Not to be confused with Phoenix Park in the Tanglin area, Phoenix Estate is a landed enclave in Choa Chu Kang. I’ll be honest and confess that I wasn’t expecting much before I visited: Choa Chu Kang isn’t exactly known for its landed houses and it’s also fairly far out.
When I’d visited Windermere EC and Pavilion Park landed estate in the past, the time taken to get there made commuting seem a bit of a trek. There also weren’t many amenities in the immediate vicinity at the moment. (Yes I know ACS is slated to move to Tengah soon but when I visited, there wasn’t much around.)
However, I was pleasantly surprised by Phoenix Park! Not only is it one of the most spacious estates that I’ve visited (the houses have some of the most amazing unblocked views) it was also a relatively quick drive over via Upper Bukit Timah. (You also get a lovely view of all the greenery on the way over.) Plus, there were so many amenities close by: I could even see all the way to Hillion Mall from the houses! It really came across as a very nice place to live in.
Unfortunately, I cannot show you a photo of the Mall/gorgeous open greenery because there were several “No trespassing/No photography” signs. So let me show you the houses instead!
The estate consists of terrace, semi-detached, and even detached houses. There are also a few new(ish) condos in the area, but because the estate is so generously sized, you hardly register their presence. (As in they don’t loom over the houses and block the light and air.)
These are the terrace houses situated on Phoenix Garden, my favourite street in the estate, thanks to the unblocked views they enjoy. (From these houses, you can see Hillion Mall very clearly.)Houses on the left, the open land on the right. Some residents have even converted part of the land into their extended garden! (Many of the houses in this estate have very impressive gardens.)
As you can see, parking is not too much of an issue here – there is space to go around. (You may not get a space in front of your house, but there are spaces in other parts of the estate, not too far away.) However, in some parts of the estate, many spaces in front of houses have been reserved (with dustbins.)
Still on the same street, but looking in the other direction. If you’ll look carefully, you’ll notice that one of the houses at the end is being rebuilt. There was quite a bit of construction when I visited the estate- both houses and a condo – but it wasn’t too noisy. (However, I’ve lived right next to an en-bloc site for 5 years, so I could just be desensitised.)
One thing to note is that some of the streets here have very sharp turns, so they look like dead-ends from a distance (which means that there is more of a blind spot when walking or driving around the corners.) Luckily, the streets are broad enough that you can still safely walk around the estate.
The houses here are huge – even the semi-Ds look like they are sitting on land big enough to build detached units on!See what I mean about no problems finding parking? Another thing to highlight is that the land here isn’t flat, so some houses are located on slightly higher ground, and others on slightly lower terrain.A photo to illustrate what I mean about dustbins being used to reserve parking spaces, despite there appearing to be no lack of space. (However, note that I visited on a weekday morning when people were at work – the situation could be quite different in the evening!)Not only do most houses sit on large plots of land, but there is also room to build upwards, as can be seen from this photo. This is definitely one of the estates with the biggest properties that I’ve visited (excluding Binjai Park, of course.)More construction.
This is the row of houses behind the one I just showed you – here we get semi-Ds facing terrace units.
The terraces.Parking situation.Photo to illustrate how the street slopes – just look at the descending heights of the roofs of the houses.This also means that a few units will need stairs built to access their properties from street level, as shown above.Remember what I said about the residents here having green fingers?Just look at how lush the neighbourhood is! It was a joy to walk around.It helps that the pedestrian paths here are very wide, so despite the greenery, you can still walk on them unimpeded. (Not the case in other estates with narrower sidewalks.)Here’s how broad the sidewalk is, even with all that abundant greenery on the side.
As mentioned, the Phoenix Estate is extremely generously spaced. Not only are the roads and sidewalks broad, but the space in between some of the houses is also large. (This is because they’re older properties which did not build out to the maximum allowed distance, so if new owners come in and rebuild, you may lose that sense of spaciousness. However, for now, the setback between some of the bigger units is extremely comfortable – even more so than in many estates in Bukit Timah!)
Here are 2 photos to illustrate what I mean:
There is a day care centre within the estate: Modern Montessori Choa Chu Kang MMI, with a 4.0 rating on Google, at the time of writing.
The Phoenix landed enclave is also lucky enough to have one of the largest playgrounds I’ve seen on my walkabouts, as well as their very own badminton court – an amenity only a handful of estates, such as Ming Teck, Cambridge estate and Jurong Park, have.
Here it is: it’s located along the side of Phoenix Road, which is the only road (for vehicles) into Phoenix Estate, off Choa Chu Kang Road.
Let’s take a quick walk around the playground!
As you can see, it’s so large you can’t even see the rides when standing across the road!Here are some of the rides you can find in the playground. (As the land behind the playground is also zoned off with “No trespassing, no photography” signs, I have to take the photos at an angle so as not to show any of that protected area.)There’s also an outdoor gym for adults.A shaded seating area and walking path.And here’s the badminton court I mentioned earlier!Actually, I think it’s a basketball court! According to the sign, it can only be used between 11 am to 9 pm every day but Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 4 to 9 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If not you may be fined. I think that’s a great rule, as it could potentially be quite noisy for the houses situated close to the court. However, the property immediately next to the court is a condo – the closest house is located across the road.Due to the sloping land, the playground is slightly above street level – at the end of the basketball court is this wheelchair-accessible path down to the street.The playground is sandwiched between two condos, one of which is still being built.On the other side is Hillsta condo. We’re looking down Phoenix Road now, towards Choa Chua Kang Road, by the way.Across the road are some houses. However, note that it’s almost impossible to find street parking on this stretch, as most of the street is marked with a single white line. (It does make it much easier to traverse though.)On the same side of the road as the playground are all high-rise condos.For those who want the space of a landed but the security of a condo, Hillsta also has some townhouses.Next to the Hillsta is another condo being built.Looking down at Choa Chu Kang Road from the outside of the playground.This is where Phoenix Road meets the main road. Phoenix LRT is right across the road, and you’ll also find the usual conveniences of an HDB estate there (Sheng Shiong, eateries, etc) For those who want the MRT, Bukit Panjang MRT is about a 12-minute walk away (to the right) as is Bukit Panjang Plaza and Junction 10. Some roadworks were being done when I visited (looking to the left.)To the right. However, it was relatively easy to drive in and out of the estate.There are also more houses to the right, along Choa Chu Kang Road, as shown above.Last look at the Phoenix Estate sign (which is a bit difficult to see out to the construction signage.)
This brings us to the end of today’s tour. How did you find it? I was quite impressed actually! Let me know if there are other estates you’d like a tour of in the comments!
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
This is really stunning! I have come across semi-detached houses when I was browsing properties in SG for fun…they look really nice to live it!
Daren
10 months ago
Its very difficult to drive out onto CCK Road during peak hours when we need to u-turn back to join the BKE thru Bukit Panjang Road or down to the AYE/PIE through Upper Bukit Timah Rd though. I used to live at Phoenix Heights (before the enbloc).
TJ
8 min read
This is really stunning! I have come across semi-detached houses when I was browsing properties in SG for fun…they look really nice to live it!
Its very difficult to drive out onto CCK Road during peak hours when we need to u-turn back to join the BKE thru Bukit Panjang Road or down to the AYE/PIE through Upper Bukit Timah Rd though. I used to live at Phoenix Heights (before the enbloc).
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! This would be really insightful for those looking to stay in the area 🙂