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Touring Jalan Seaview Landed Estate: Large Freehold Landed Houses Near The MRT In The East
Published 20 Aug 2023 |
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13min read
BY TJPublished 20 Aug 20230 comments | 13min read
BY TJ
TJ's interest in property was sparked after returning from the UK- where balconies are not counted in one's square footage!- and finding that the Singapore property had totally changed in the 7 years she was away. When not reading and watching articles & videos about property, she is busy cooking and baking for friends, family & her blog Greedygirlgourmet
Today’s tour is a rather belated walkabout of the landed estate at Jalan Seaview. It was requested by a reader some time ago and I’ve been putting it off – not because I wanted to procrastinate but rather because the houses there are all on the larger side i.e. more expensive and, thus, of interest to fewer of our readers. (As far as I could tell, all the houses there are semi-Ds and detached houses. No terraces i.e. no “entry-level” landed units.)
However, since the last few landed tours have been of more affordable landed estates, such as Kew and Mayflower estates, I thought it was finally time to showcase Jalan Seaview!
I had previously visited neighbouring Amber Road to look at an apartment there and removed it from my property shortlist because I found the area too “messy.” Despite being close to numerous eateries on Tanjong Katong Road and East Coast Park, the presence of the ECP, the expansive Tanjong Katong MRT Station construction, and the area’s road layout made it feel less pedestrian-friendly during my visit. (And I do enjoy being able to walk to nearby amenities.)
Unfortunately, my initial impression of Jalan Seaview was somewhat similar to that of Amber Road. As Google Maps directed me to drive to Jalan Seaview (from the city centre) via the ECP, my first glimpse of the estate was again a large and noisy construction site (for the same Tanjong Katong MRT Station mentioned above.) I suppose this would improve once all the construction is done in the future, but for now this is what residents here would have to contend with.
Above-mentioned construction site.The construction site extends for quite a long distance.Moreover, with such high-rise buildings behind the construction site, the area just felt a little… congested?Luckily, there is a zebra crossing to help residents cross the road here.
Thankfully, my impression of the area improved after we passed the construction site but, before I show you the rest of the photos, let’s first define the area we’re looking at.
We’re basically exploring the area in between Mountbatten Road, Crescent Road, Meyer Road and Tanjong Katong Road today. Although there are several streets in the area, they’re called either Jalan Sedap or Jalan Seaview. (Jalan Seaview is a long and winding road.)And here’s the Master Plan. As mentioned previously, the estate is surrounded by high-rises to the East, Northeast and South (plot ratio 2.8 or higher.)One of the most prominent things about this landed enclave is the large Meyer Road Playground at the junction of Meyer Road and Crescent Road. It is also zoned as a Park on the Master Plan so one doesn’t have to worry about it going away in future.The playground to my right, houses to my left. As you can see, this playground is so expansive, I can’t capture the rides and the houses in the same frame.Turning to look in the other direction, I see the rides, with the famous Meyer House condo behind it. This is my first time visiting Meyer House condo and I can certainly see why it commands such high prices now that I’ve a better understanding of its situation.There were a lot of kids using the playground – this was the most well-utilised playground that I’ve come across in all my walkabouts, save for, perhaps, Pavilion Park – so I wasn’t able to take a photo of the rides. (I try not to take face-on photos of people so as not to intrude on their privacy.) Hence, I’m sharing a photo of the paths and greenery around the playground instead. (That’s Meyer House on my right.)There’s also a short street bordering the playground, Jalan Nuri. Let’s take a quick walk down this street. (Note the wide empty roads where visitors can park, as it’s a dotted white line.)As mentioned in the introduction, the houses here are on the larger side. I do appreciate the vintage architecture though!I think those are solar panels on the roof! (FYI not all houses have enough roof space to allow for solar panels.)Ah, now we know why the roads are so empty. The residents here certainly don’t lack parking spaces!!On the map, Jalan Nuri is shown to be a road shaped like a “7” i.e. it should be possible to take a left here. However, when I visited, the road was boarded up.Since there’s nothing else to see, I head back out of Jalan Nuri. That’s Crescent Road ahead of me.Another look at Meyer Road Playground so you can admire its size – it’s so large I can’t even see the rides from here!I take a right at the junction and come to a play school along Crescent Road: Adventure Tree. (5.0 rating on Google, but only 4 reviews.)This is also where we see the sign for the playground.Look across Meyer Road and it’s mostly high-rise condos on this end.
I didn’t see a bus stop here, but a few are indicated on Google Maps, so I did some research. The buses that stop along Meyer Road are TM1 and PBS566 – certainly no bus numbers I’ve seen before! According to Landtransportguru, these are “bus-pooling services from the heartlands to common activity nodes.” Very convenient I must say! However, since when was Katong considered “heartlands?!” (I’m guessing I didn’t see, or recognise, the bus stops because they’re not the usual ones.)
If you’re wondering TM1 apparently goes to Harbourfront, Mapletree Business City, Alexandra Rd and Depot Rd. According to the same site, the cost is $5.80 per ride or $99 monthly. PBS566 is apparently “defunct.”
Do you see anything resembling a bus stop here?I turn back and head in the other direction along Meyer Road (towards the MRT construction site.)Towards this end, we see both high-rise condos and landed houses. That’s the driveway to one of the houses on my leftWalking further along Meyer Road. It’s a very broad ride – it feels like a fairly major road so I’m a little surprised that parking is allowed on the street. View of one of the houses to my left.With a car in the frame, do you get a better sense of just how wide Meyer Road is?We walk a bit more and now there are landed houses on both sides of the road.More houses over at Peach Garden.One of many construction projects I saw in the area.Another one. (There are more but I figure two photos can prove my point.)We’ve now reached the construction site but what I wanted to draw your attention to is the signage for the Aalto condo. (If it’s not clear, the words are on the grey wall.)
I wanted to highlight this because I thought it was very good design planning. They have the words “Aalto” on both sides of the wall making it easier for Grab drivers and visitors to find the condo. The reason I noticed this is because I just visited someone who lives in a condo that costs 8 figures. Unfortunately, despite being extremely expensive, the developer did not see fit to have visible signage for the condo along the road, making it impossible to locate! Or maybe that’s the point – when you’re so rich, you want your address to be private and non-findable?
See, Aalto on the reverse side too. Turned off Tanjong Katong Road onto Jalan Seaview. As you can see, the area is spacious enough that I can’t really capture the houses on the opposite sides of the road in the same frame.Nice, leafy and green area. Feels a world apart from the construction mess we saw earlier and makes me feel much better about this landed enclave.I appreciate all the effort the neighbours have put into landscaping the pavement. (Assuming it’s done by them and not the government.)However, even the government street signs here are the nicest I’ve seen on my walkabouts!The bird’s nest fern on top of this side gate looks a bit like a crown and this looks like an entrance to a secret garden.One of the houses I saw along the way. I like how there are stairs to the second level, making it possible to use as a dual-key house for renting or multi-generational living.Certainly one of the easiest landed estates to find parking at. (However, if you’ve been following this series, you’ll definitely have heard me correlate the size of the houses to the ease of finding street parking. Larger houses have more space for residents to park, so fewer people park on the road and the roads are less congested.)This house is even spacious enough to have a pool, albeit an above ground one and an in-ground one. The latter is more expensive to build but I believe it also adds more value to your property. However, if you have an older property, buyers may want to knock down and re-build so an in-ground pool may not actually add value in the buyers’ eyes. For more info on pools in Singapore, click here.More exquisite landscaping.Interesting balcony. First time I’m seeing one with this design.Example of how much you can upsize a property here.And you can probably build out too if your driveway is long enough. (You may have to redo the foundation so always check with a contractor first.)More examples of how large the properties here are.Had to include this as I think it’s an even better example of the plot ratio maximisation potential.We’re back at Meyer Road playground – more cute street signs in sight.Here’s a look down Jalan Nuri (we didn’t get to see it in its entirety previously.)However, since we’ve already seen the playground let’s walk down another way. (Walking along Crescent Road here.)We pass a large preschool (Global Tots Preschool. However, on the masterplan, all the land here is zoned residential.) Preschools are not rare in landed estates but they’re usually smaller than this.
The area to the left of Jalan Seaview estate actually has quite a few preschools. There’s also Brighton Montessori @ Mountbatten Road, Montessori for children Broadrick campus and Konohana Kindergarten, to name a few.
Near the preschool is Seven Crescent, a strata estate consisting of 14 cluster houses. If you want to live in this area, but don’t have the largest bank balance, this is probably your opportunity. There were no units for sale at the time of writing but, according to Propertyguru, the last sales transacted at $3m+ (in 2021.) If you’re wondering what the other houses in the area cost, based on Edgeprop records, the last 10 sales in Crescent Road (excluding strata sales) and the last 10 sales in Jalan Seaview ranged from $4.55 million to upwards of $ 12 million. (No info for Jalan Sedap for some reason.)
See why I wasn’t in a rush to feature this estate? (The price is too prohibitive for 99.9% of us plebeians so I figured articles featuring more affordable estates would be more “efficient” i.e. same amount of time spent touring but more utility produced due to more people being interested in the area.)
Again, nary a car in sight.Another unique house, with a turret.Cool roof.I was going to make that the last photo shared of a house but then I saw this one!Exploring more of the neighbourhood.Fun lantern.And we finally make our way to Mountbatten Road.There are some houses along Mountbatten Road, one of the major roads here. Luckily, they don’t open directly onto Mountbatten Road. If not, driving in and out of one’s house would be a bit stressful.Looking to the right – as you can see, it’s significantly busier than Meyer Road.And now looking to the left. There’s a bus stop ahead where you can take buses 12, 14, 14a and 196.Looking back on the estate.Let’s have a walk down this road. Again, lots of room to build up here.Took a photo of this new build as, from afar, it looked like the wall on the top floor was a solid wall but now I see they’re privacy grills. Quite clever, in my opinion. You get light and wind, as well as noise, without sacrificing one’s privacy. (I passed a glass house in this estate into which I had a bird’s eye view. I didn’t take a photo of it as I didn’t want to offend anyone but it sort of reminded me of being a hamster in a cage. Or maybe exhibitionism. (It was a pretty new and grand house, but I personally wouldn’t care to be so exposed.)I’m guessing this road doesn’t get too busy since people apparently play basketball here.The bus stop I mentioned earlier. Apologies, bus 14e no longer stops here despite what is written on Google. (14e is not on the signboard AND the bus stop was given a poor Google review because of the missing bus 14e. The first bus stop I’ve seen with a 3.7 rating!)I’m suddenly seeing littering alerts – but no litter- at all the landed estates! Never seen them previously.I know I said I wouldn’t post any more photos of individual homes, but I couldn’t resist this period home across the road.A closer look – it looks like a period property in front, with a modern extension behind.From the pavement, this is what you see. The landed houses in the Jalan Seaview estate are to my right, but hidden by the trees, so they’re sheltered from passing traffic.We reach a junction where you can turn back onto Crescent Road.
We’ve now seen the whole landed enclave in its entirety! (Helps that it’s not too big, otherwise this article would never end.) So how did you find it?
From being not too impressed in the beginning, I ended up finding it a great area to live in. The inside of the estate is nice and quiet, but it’s not far from amenities (just across Mountbatten Road are many shophouses along Tanjong Katong Road, with eateries and shops, from Nasi Lemak to cafes! Turn right on Mountbatten Road and you’ll find the famous 328 Katong Laksa, Roxy Square 1 and Dunman Food Centre (about 22 minutes walk.) Moreover, it’ll have an MRT station right at its doorstep once Tanjong Katong MRT is completed in 2024, so not much longer to go!
Before I sign off, let’s talk about Primary Schools. According to onemap, Tanjong Katong Primary School is within 1 km of almost all the houses here (but please do check the respective house number if you have a particular unit in mind.) As per Google Maps, it’s about a 20-minute walk so I’ll let you decide if that is considered to be within walking distance or not! (Unfortunately, that’s the only Primary school within 1 km at the moment.)
We’ve reached the end of today’s tour, see you again next week! I hope the reader who requested this walkabout finds it useful!
TJ's interest in property was sparked after returning from the UK- where balconies are not counted in one's square footage!- and finding that the Singapore property had totally changed in the 7 years she was away. When not reading and watching articles & videos about property, she is busy cooking and baking for friends, family & her blog Greedygirlgourmet
