In March, we toured the conservation homes in Balestier (at Martaban Road, and I guess the area resonated with readers as there were a few comments about the article. One reader asked for a tour of neighbouring Pegu Road, and another noted that there were no HDB blocks in the area. I was glad to see the interest in the area, but I do think Pegu Road is a bit too close to Martaban Road to be covered again so soon. However, there is a small enclave of houses across Balestier Road, which also just happens to be next to a HDB estate, so I thought it would be interesting to go take a look!
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Today, we’re touring 3 streets: Jalan Kemaman, Boon Teck Road, and Jalan Ampas. On the first 2 streets, landed houses are scattered amongst high-rise condos. However, most of the houses on Jalan Ampas have been re-developed already. (There are still a few detached buildings, but they’re not residential buildings- you’ll see when we go take a look.)
Let’s start with the map of the area:
ScreenshotHere we are, starting at Jalan Kemaman, It was pretty easy to find parking on the street as there are designated street parking lots. (See the photo for parking prices.)
However, the road is pretty narrow. There was some construction going on when I was visiting and the truck in the area made it difficult to drive down the street. (The area has a good number of original condition houses, so I would expect more construction work in the future, if the houses are sold.)
The construction vehicle. Whilst the road for cars isn’t the widest, look at how broad the pedestrian pavement is! (And note the single storey, original condition building in the picture.)A house that has been rebuilt. It feels quite tall so let’s go take a look at the Masterplan and see if it’s a 1.4 plot ratio here.
Interesting: some houses have a 2.8 plot ratio- much more redevelopment potential than 1.4 (assuming you can get a large enough plot together.)
But other houses on the same street aren’t zoned 2.8! (Compare the 2 screenshots of the Masterplan.)
If you’re wondering about the impact on landed house prices here, here are the transaction histories:
No sales history for Jalan Ampas, only a rental transaction way back in 2014.
Another original condition house. See what I mean about there being plenty of old buildings in the area? I do find Balestier a very colourful and interesting area where you can sometimes find properties that don’t cost as much as you would expect, given its central location.Some empty parking lots.One of the high-rose condos in the building. I was surprised that I didn’t feel the condominiums were looming over the houses here. Maybe it’s because the pavement is broad, or maybe it’s because the area is city-central (so I was already expecting it to be more built-up), but it didn’t make me feel as uncomfortably crowded-in as I felt on some of the streets where we’ve previously seen the same house-next-to-tall-apartment situation.Turning back to look towards the main road (Balestier.) This is a cul-de-sac so there is only 1 way to drive in and out, which may cause a bit of a jam during peak hours.Continuing down the street.Original and rebuilt houses side by side so you can see how much higher you can go.A full-on view of the original homes as I always find them so cute.More apartments.More street parking lots. There are also some basement carparks over on Jalan Ampas if your visitors are unable to find spaces here. (Which is convenient as Jalan Ampas is after Jalan Kemaman, so you can just turn out onto Balestier Road (if you can’t find parking here) and then into Jalan Ampas (instead of having to make a huge u-turn, which you would have had to do if Jalan Ampas was located before Jalan Kemaman.)1 of several temples in the area. See what I mean about this area being colourful? It’s not the typical Singaporean residential district for sure!We’re almost at the end of the street which opens up to a canal path.A few more vintage houses before we reach the “waterway.”Another condo, Neem Tree- this one struck me as having some great unblocked views (because located next to the canal.) I was interested enough to google and found that there is a wide range of sizes of apartments here.Here we are walking next to the canal. This path can bring you to Jalan Ampas, Boon Teck Road, as well as the other streets parallel to Jalan Kemaman.Right across is a HDB estate I mentioned in the introduction. There are plenty of crossings that will bring you over the canal so you have easy access to the amenities usually found in HDB estates. (There are several HDB estates across the canal, including the HDB terrace houses over at Jalan Bahagia. (No amenities there though.))Looking left, towards Boon Teck Road.Looking right, towards Jalan Ampas, which is where we’ll head first.Last look at the street before we head on.Property to our right as we walk down the canal (which is to our left.)One of the canal crossings I mentioned.Another HDB estate.Turning onto Jalan Ampas. Went to take a look at the canal crossing before heading on to Jalan Ampas.Jalan Ampas.One of the non-residential properties I mentioned earlier, in this case, a nursing home. I once researched condos in the area and some of the residents I spoke to said that, some evenings, the nursing home was noisier than the temple! (I didn’t hear anything on my visits to the area but I always visit during the day.)To the left is Lorong Ampas (which is pretty industrial). It leads to the HDB estate over at Kim Keat so there’s more than 1 way to drive in/ out here, unlike over at Jalan Kemaman.More street parking here.1 of the car parks I mentioned earlier.Also an old folks home.Another condo. If I remember correctly, this one has some loft units, which was why I was checking out this area in the first place.Like Jalan Kemaman, the pavements here are also very generous.An older apartment.I may have been writing about property for too long as when I saw this I thought “wow, huge car park, I wonder if there’s en-bloc potential!”Another public car park where your friends and family can park.Or basement parking if they want to be out of the sun. (The basement parking is at Shaw Plaza- we took a look at this mall when we visited Martaban Road so I won’t go in again but it’s definitely within easy walking distance of the landed homes.)There are even what look to be electric charging points for cars here!The main Balestier Road.Looking to the left, towards Martaban Road.Looking to the right. (There’s another shopping centre here. It’s quite old so I don’t think of it as a mall.)Many lighting shops, like we see across the street.Here’s the turning into Jalan Kemaman.Love the heritage trail signs though I do wonder how many tourists come here.There’s a coffee shop here. (I can’t get closer as there were people sitting inside and I didn’t want to intrude on their privacy but basically you’re not far from food.) It was pretty crowded despite being in the middle of the afternoon.In fact Boon Tong Kee is across the street but, to be honest, I wasn’t impressed by this branch when I visited.Peeking down Jalan Kemaman on our way to Boon Teck Road.The coffee shop I mentioned, photo taken in a way so as not to capture any of the diners so you don’t really see much.There’s also a Chinese herbal shop.And a 7-11 for emergencies. (Note that there’s a supermarket in Shaw Plaza for your big weekly shop.)We’re across from a hawker centre here (also covered in the Martaban tour.) It’s pretty from the outside but not one of my favourites to be honest.Reached Boon Teck Road.Now turning in to Boon Teck Road.A students hostel (and some pet shops and animal surgery) in this building. More street parking.Another colourful building. I hope we continue seeing them in the future!Original condition detached property.Another tall apartment here.There’s an alley way connecting you to Jalan Kemaman here so pedestrians don’t have to walk out to the busy main Balestier Road (or over to the canal) if they want to visit neighbours.Another construction project here.Some rebuilt houses.Colourful original condition house. I’ve never been inside one of these single storey homes- wonder what they’re like inside!Continuing down the street, it’s mostly tall apartments, so the area feels busier and less spacious.You can see the HDB estate (across the canal) from here. To the left, before we reach the canal, there is a road to the left (which connects to Jalan Rama Rama. Basically Jalan Kemaman is the only “standalone” street of these 3 streets we’ve visited today.)We can cross to the HDB estate here.Looking to the left.And to the right brings us back to where we started, Jalan Kemaman.I like how there’s wheelchair accessible paths on to the canal way here.
I googled the 3 streets but the only news that came up was about the en-bloc sale of Kemaman Point (somewhat confusingly not located on Jalan Kemaman but fairly close by) & a Malay studio founded by Shaw Brothers (it was still there when I visited though now defunct). I was actually specifically looking for news of flooding, being situated so close to a canal, but nothing came up on Google.
This brings us to the end of today’s tour. How did you find this area in Balestier? Let me know in the comments if you prefer living here or over at Martaban Road!
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Frequently asked questions
What are the main streets with landed houses in Balestier discussed in the article?
The article discusses three streets: Jalan Kemaman, Boon Teck Road, and Jalan Ampas, where landed houses are located.
Are there any redevelopment projects or new buildings in the Balestier area?
Yes, most houses on Jalan Ampas have been redeveloped, and there are several tall apartments and condos in the area, indicating ongoing redevelopment.
What amenities and facilities are available near the Balestier landed homes?
The area has shopping centers like Shaw Plaza, hawker centers, temples, a Chinese herbal shop, a 7-11, and access to HDB estates with amenities across the canal.
How accessible are the Balestier homes to public transportation and main roads?
The streets have good access to main roads like Balestier Road, with crossings to HDB estates and connections to other streets, making it fairly accessible.
What is the parking situation like in the Balestier area?
There are designated street parking lots, basement car parks, and public parking facilities, including electric charging points, making parking relatively convenient.
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
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