A 103-year leasehold site at Jalan Merbok has been put up for sale, and has the potential to become the newest privately-owned senior living development in Singapore, according to Knight Frank Singapore, the exclusive market agent.
Located in District 21, the 94,907 sq ft site currently houses the LifeSprings Canossian Spirituality Centre, currently operated by the Canossian Sisters.
The site is off Jalan Jurong Kechil in Upper Bukit Timah, and is next to a low-rise landed estate. This part of Upper Bukit Timah is exceptionally close to greenery, with the site next to a forested area bounded by Bukit Batok St 25, and close to Bukit Batok Nature Park.
Under the current Master Plan, the site is meant for educational institutions.
However, in a press release announcing the land sale, Knight Frank says that ‘preferred’ uses for the site include senior living and care, such as assisted living, a nursing home, a day care centre, or a training centre for health and medical care.
But redevelopment plans based on these suggestions will require regulatory approval.
Nevertheless, the site offers investors and operators the opportunity to create a differentiated senior living proposition that is centred on improved care, wellbeing and quality of life.
Mary Sai, Executive Director of Capital Markets at Knight Frank Singapore, says that purpose-built senior living and care assets remain relatively scarce in Singapore. “With Singapore officially declared a super-aged society with 21.6% of its population aged 65 and older, demand for age-friendly housing and care solutions is expected to increase,” she says.
She adds that as the proportion of seniors in Singapore increases, this demographic of residents will seek environments that not only support physical wellbeing, but also social connection, emotional wellbeing and a sense of purpose.
With no guide price for the asset, interested parties may submit an offer together with their proposed concept for the site to be considered as part of the overall submission.
Relatively limited options for affordable senior living in Singapore
The United Nations (UN) defines a society as “superaged” when 21% or more of the population is aged 65 and older. Singapore hit that milestone in 2025, when 21.6% of citizens fell into this age group, according to the Population in Brief 2025 report released by the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD).
With more seniors in Singapore ageing at a faster pace compared to the previous decade, how well are the public and private residential markets prepared to handle the residential and care needs for this segment?
However, senior living is a relatively broad term, and its meaning can vary depending on an individual’s healthcare needs, financial capability, preferences, and long-term plans. Over the years, various options have been designed to cater to seniors with different degrees of care needs.
For seniors who are fairly independent, the most common option is ageing at home with live-in domestic helpers.
The government also introduced the Community Care Apartments (CCAs) in 2021. These are senior-friendly housing integrated with local neighbourhood care and social services. Recently, the government also lowered the age eligibility from 65 years old to 55 years old.
Over the past five years, HDB has launched six CCA projects - in Bukit Batok, Queenstown, Woodlands, Bedok, Geylang, and Sengkang - with a new project in Toa Payoh expected to launch during the November 2026 BTO sales exercise.
But the overall reception to CCA has been mixed, with only the Bukit Batok and Queenstown projects oversubscribed and take-up rates declining over the years.
Over in the private market, there are shared stay-in caregiving services run by private operators for small groups of seniors to share an apartment supported by live-in caregiver teams.
For seniors with greater care needs, nursing homes and private assisted living are available at different price points. Recently, the government has tried to encourage more private operators to enter this segment of the market.
The most recent privately-managed development is Perennial Living by Singapore-based property group Perennial Holdings. Completed in August this year, the project at Parry Avenue in Serangoon Gardens is the first premium senior living facility in Singapore.
The starting rate for a studio unit at Perennial Living starts from $8,000 per month. But residents have access to Perennial Wellness, a two-storey medical and rehabilitation centre that provides medical consultations, imaging, physiotherapy, robotic rehabilitation, TCM and sleep services.
Does the Jalan Merbok site make sense as a senior living facility?
The site at 100 Jalan Merbok has historical ties to the Canossian Daughters of Charity, with their central administration based at the Jalan Merbok Provincial House in 1969. With the existing spiritual centre already established on site, it could be a unique opportunity for an operator to tap into existing synergies.
For example, a proposed development could complement the existing spirituality centre operated by the Canossian Sisters to create a holistic senior living environment focused on care, wellbeing, and community involvement. And each facility would operate independently.
“Paired with the wider campus setting, (the site) provides a strong foundation for a long-term senior living and care platform that can house an assisted living centre, a daycare centre for elderly in the neighbourhood, and even an eldercare training centre for caregivers and community volunteers,” says Sai.
Strategically located within a mature catchment of landed and low-rise private and public housing estates, the future development will be among the handful of senior living facilities in the area.
The site is relatively accessible via Beauty World MRT station on the Downtown Line and Bukit Batok MRT station on the North-South Line - however, we note that these two stations are not within walking distance and are about a 10-min drive away.
Noting the complexities of senior care, Melvin Chay, Interim Head of Capital Markets at Knight Frank Singapore, says: “As senior residents’ care needs evolve, it is ideal for them to transit between different levels of support while remaining within the subject site, helping to reduce disruption for both residents and their families”.
But the site is well situated for seniors, given its proximity to green spaces including Bukit Batok Nature Park and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Thus, a potential senior living development there would offer an attractive setting that supports active ageing and overall wellbeing, says Chay.
While a single 94,907 sq ft site may not materially change national capacity, this land sale is potentially more significant for Singapore’s senior-living operating model than for the potential new supply it would add.
At the nascent stage of this developing market, the site could be an important test of whether Singapore can make integrated, private-sector senior living and care complexes commercially viable.
The site will be sold in an Expression of Interest exercise that closes on November 6.
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