When I was touring Joo Chiat Avenue a few weeks ago, I noticed that there was an eatery with good reviews nearby (The Brewing Ground.) I decided to return to check it out and, on the same street (Joo Chiat Place, which is the road parallel to Joo Chiat Avenue) I saw there was a charming row of vintage terrace houses. The houses stood out as they are still in their original condition: two storeys high and without a maximised plot ratio, something pretty rare in land-scarce Singapore.
I even had the opportunity to tour one, and noticed the entrance to the toilet on the ground floor is located outside the house. You need to exit the house and go into the backyard, to get to the downstairs loo. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.
Let’s start our tour at Telok Kurau Park, which is located at the end of Joo Chiat Place, dividing it from Frankel Estate, then make our way down to The Brewing Ground and Parkway East Hospital.
Here I am standing at the end of Joo Chiat Place, looking into Telok Kurau Park. A vintage house to my left.The road leading to Joo Chiat Avenue The nearby park for residentsIt was drizzling when I visited which could explain why the park was so empty.This looks to be a very nice community garden.Some seating (but no shade) in the park, and the Frankel Estate houses in front.Some outdoor exercise equipment.A Resident’s Hub for the communityThere’s quite a lot of exercise equipmentHere I’m walking back toward Joo Chiat Place.The road linking Joo Chiat Avenue and Joo Chiat Place in front of me.One of the vintage houses.In between the houses on Joo Chiat Avenue and Joo Chiat Place is an alleyway, which spaces out the two rows of houses.Looking down the alley. I saw some people use it as a place to hang their laundry, which seems quite handy, and more convenient than hanging one’s laundry on the front gate; that’s something I’ve seen in other landed estates.The row of vintage houses. It’s nice when all the houses in a row look the same. Interestingly, the row of houses opposite has mostly been redeveloped into more modern looking properties.Photo of both rows of houses in one frame.The street was pretty empty when I visited.The residents are probably sensitive about people parking here illegally, and possibly blocking driveways
Looking at the Masterplan, both the vintage and modern row of houses have been zoned 1.4 (i.e. able to build into apartments of up to five stories.)
A last look at the vintage houses before we cross the side street leading to Joo Chiat Walk. After this the houses don’t look too different from the ones found in the rest of Singapore.The junction leading to Joo Chiat Walk.Notice the yellow lines on the road (i.e. no street parking here.) As mentioned earlier, there is a small car park near The Brewing Ground/ The Yards but note you have to pay for parking. It was pretty empty when I visited on a weekday, but it may be full on the weekends as there are some enrichment centres such as a football school and music college here.The more modern looking terrace houses.A head-on view so you can have a better view of the size of the car porch. The vintage houses are also able to house a car in the front yard- I checked.Separating some of the houses are more alleyways, which also provide pedestrians with a shortcut to the different streets in the neighbourhood.Here is what the view is like when you’re standing inside the alleyway itself.
Have you noticed something? So far most of the units we’ve seen have only been two storeys high despite the plot ratio allowing owners to build higher.
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But we do see a few taller buildings.As we get close to The Yards/ Brewing Ground, we also find more cars parked along the road.We’ve reached The Yards now (so about halfway down Joo Chiat Place.)More buildings that were demolished and rebuilt higher.I’ve walked into The Yards so you can see exactly how much space there is for your visitors to park. These four photos show the car park.Past The Yards and we reach the Telok Kurau Road- Joo Chiat Place junction. Cross Telok Kurau Road and you’ll see Joo Chia Place still continues.Almost exactly at the junction is where we find the Parkway East Hospital. (I’ve not seen/ heard any ambulances go by during my two to three visits to the landed enclave.)Near the hospital are some eateries.Looking down the next stretch of Joo Chiat Place.There’s a Peranakan place hiding inside. It was not indicated on Google maps.A bus stop. The houses here have also been built higher than the ones we saw before. Even though we are still on Joo Chiat Place, this part has a very different feel. The previous area felt more residential whilst this part feels like it gets a lot of through traffic. The buses that stop here.An oncology clinic.More terrace houses.Passing the entrance to the hospital.More houses but this time with a slightly more private entrance that is not on the main road. This side street is also Joo Chiat Place, in case you’re wondering.A new residential project under construction, Straits at Joo Chiat. According to its website, it is a new “freehold luxury” project with 15 units. You can view the showflat online here.Yet more landed properties, followed by a row of boutique condos, such as Glenfield Apartments, Sunshine Mansions, Eastern Residence etc.Across the road are some landed properties that have been redeveloped to take advantage of the 1.4 plot ratio zoning so you can see the full potential of the landed houses here. They’re so imposing they could be mistaken for boutique condos!Next are two detached properties in original condition. Houses in this original vintage style are becoming increasingly rare in Singapore.We’ve now reached the junction with Still Road. Across the street is Willing Hearts, a charity soup kitchen. This is quite a busy junction- looking to the right so you can see the traffic situation for yourself. Looking across Still Road where you can find more commercial units. None are along the parts of Joo Chiat Road we just toured.
This brings us to the end of today’s tour. Did you notice anything unusual about this landed enclave? For one, we didn’t see any standalone pre-schools on it! You can often find educational centres for young kids in landed estates in Singapore; I’m not counting the ones located in The Yard.
However, no fear as there’s one very close by, on Joo Chiat Avenue. In fact, I think this is a better situation as the pre-school is close enough to be within walking distance; but not so close that you’ll be able to hear the kids all day.
How did you find Joo Chiat Place? Let me know in the comments!
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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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