Why Far East Organization waited 16 years to launch freehold The Serra Residences in Novena

When Far East Organization bought the Pastoral View apartment complex en bloc in 2010, HealthCity Novena was little more than a plan.

Sixteen years on, with the medical hub taking shape around it, the developer is turning the site into The Serra Residences, a 133-unit freehold condo that opens for preview on Oct 2. The official launch is slated for Oct 16.

The site at 7 Bassein Road sits in prime District 11, bounded by Bassein Road, Akyab Road and Tan Tock Seng Link.

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Far East Organization and its joint-venture partner Far East Orchard (then Orchard Parade Holdings) paid a combined $122 million for Pastoral View and the adjacent vacant plot at 11 Bassein Road, which was owned by OCBC Bank.

The combined site area is 51,396 sq ft, and the price works out to about $848 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr), inclusive of development charges.

A 16-year hold

Although Pastoral View was built in 1986, it was well-maintained when Far East Organization and Far East Orchard acquired it. Instead of redeveloping the site, the joint-venture partners refurbished its 50 apartments, added some furnishing and leased them out.

The units comprised one-bedroom units of 614 sq ft, two-bedroom units of 990 sq ft, and three-bedroom units of 1,259 to 1,500 sq ft.

“The occupancy was always around 95%,” says Shaw Lay See, COO of Far East Organization. Tenants were mainly expatriates, from medical professionals in Novena to those working in the CBD, Orchard Road and the city fringe. They ranged from singles to couples and families, drawn by the amenities in the area.

In 2015, Far East Orchard sold its stake to its parent, Far East Organization, giving the latter full control of the two adjoining sites. The combined site has a plot ratio of 2.8 and a maximum height of 36 storeys. Even so, Far East Organization held off on redevelopment and continued to lease out the units.

Read also: Far East Organization to preview freehold project The Serra Residences on Oct 2

HealthCity Novena was conceived in 2009 by the Ministry of Health, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and the National Healthcare Group. But the master plan for the 17ha medical campus, about the size of 24 football pitches, was officially launched only in 2013.

According to Shaw, the area was still evolving in 2010, and Far East Organization felt it was too early to launch a new project. “It was hard for people to visualise what it would look like in the future,” she says of that time.

An early mover in Novena

Far East Organization has been in Novena since 2002, when it won the Government Land Sale (GLS) tender for the Novena Medical Centre site.

Novena Medical Centre was completed in 2006, followed in 2007 by Square 2 mall, which links Novena Medical Centre to Novena MRT Station.

In 2007, Far East Organization also won the GLS tender for a 99-year leasehold hotel and commercial site at 8 Sinaran Drive. It has since been developed into the 428-room Oasia Hotel Novena and the adjacent Novena Specialist Centre, both linked underground to Square 2 and Novena MRT Station. The development was completed in 2011.

Far East Organization has also developed two freehold condos in Novena. They are the 100-unit Strata on Essex Road, launched in 2003 and completed in 2006; and the 85-unit Miro on Lincoln Road, launched in 2008 and completed in 2012.

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“For the past 20 years, we have developed more than seven projects cutting across the residential, medical, retail and hospitality sectors,” says Shaw. “So we are very familiar with this location, and we believe in the fundamentals of this location.”

A neighbourhood transformed

The first phase of HealthCity Novena was completed in 2024. It includes the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, the TTSH Integrated Care Hub, which helps patients move from acute care to rehabilitation before returning home, and the Ng Teng Fong Centre for Healthcare Innovation.

The Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine Novena campus, developed jointly by Nanyang Technological University and Imperial College London, was completed in 2017. A new National Skin Centre opened in 2023, doubling capacity and cutting median waiting times by 30%.

The second phase of HealthCity Novena master plan, launched in September 2025, will run beyond 2030. It includes a new TTSH Medical Tower, which will add about 600 acute beds and expand the emergency department.

“As Singapore’s population ages, healthcare will become an increasingly important pillar of the economy, making the continued expansion of Health-City Novena a significant long-term driver for the precinct,” says Marcus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore.

Last December, the Singapore Land Authority awarded the tender for the 985,350 sq ft site at 2 Moulmein Road to Country City Investment, which has developed and managed the Dempsey Hill lifestyle and dining enclave since 2007.

The site has 44 conservation buildings and has been approved for co-living, wellness, health and fitness, pet-friendly services, an art gallery and educational programmes. About 41,900 sq ft of its gross floor area of 139,700 sq ft can be used for F&B and retail. It is targeted to open in 1Q2027.

Shaw expects the new lifestyle hub to make the neighbourhood more vibrant. What’s more, The Serra is located within walking distance from it.

Construction is also underway on the 21.5km North-South Corridor, which will link northern Singapore to the city centre and ease congestion on the Central Expressway. The northern viaduct sections will open in phases from 2029, and the tunnel sections from 2031.

Why now?

With these projects in progress, Far East Organization began rethinking its plans for Pastoral View and the adjacent plot. Pastoral View also turns 40 this year, and keeping it would mean spending more on maintenance as wear and tear sets in.

That was when Far East Organization’s management began to question holding on to the building.

“So we asked ourselves: Do we really want to continue putting money into an old building, when the market is telling us that the location is ready for redevelopment?” says Shaw.

Core Central Region (CCR) launches this year have seen healthy take-up over their launch weekends, including Newport Residences (57%) in January, River Modern (90%) in March, and Dunearn House (56%) in July. Of the four CCR projects launched so far this year, only Newport Residences is freehold.

Buoyed by that demand, Far East Organization is launching The Serra, the second freehold launch in the CCR this year.

Inspired by Zhangjiajie’s quartz-sandstone pillars

Designed by P&T Consultants, the 28-storey tower covers about 30% of the site. Homes start on Level 4, about 25m above street level, which is equivalent to about eight storeys in a typical condo.

The units are split into two zones. The Serra Residences, on levels 4 to 16, have 91 units: two-bedroom-plus-study, three-bedroom and four-bedroom units of 710 to 958 sq ft.

The Summit, on levels 18 to 28, has 42 units. They comprise 20 four-bedroom and four-bedroom-plus-study units of 1,216 to 1,335 sq ft, and 20 four- and five-bedroom premium units of 1,528 to 1,755 sq ft.

Two five-bedroom penthouses of 2,648 sq ft and 2,669 sq ft crown the tower. The premium units and penthouses, 22 in all, come with private lifts.

The tower has a north-south orientation, maximising cross-ventilation and cutting the western sun, while travertine fins on its east and west façades provide further shade.

Its design draws on the quartz-sandstone pillars of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China’s Hunan province, which are said to have inspired James Cameron’s movie Avatar.

According to Kingsley Ng, architect and director at P&T Consultants, the tower is carved into layered voids to create elevated green terraces for residents.

Shaw says The Serra has a wellness theme. With just 133 units, it includes a full-sized tennis court, a 50m lap pool, a gym, function rooms, a children’s playground, and even a pet park. The sky terrace on Level 17 has a wellness garden, a lounge and a quiet zone for yoga, as well as senior-friendly fitness equipment.

The car park has 113 parking lots, including two dedicated spots for the penthouses and five EV charging spots. It also has 23 bicycle parking spaces.

The Serra is expected to obtain its temporary occupation permit in 4Q2030.

The first new launch in five years

According to Huttons Asia, the last new launch in the Novena neighbourhood of District 11 was five years ago: the 90-unit freehold Peak Residence on Thomson Road. Developed by Tuan Sing Holdings and Rich Capital Holdings, it was launched in April 2021 and completed in 2025.

Before that came the 87-unit freehold Neu at Novena on Moulmein Rise, developed by a consortium of Roxy-Pacific Holdings, Macly Group and LWH Holdings. It was launched in October 2019 and completed in 2023.

On Oct 2, Far East Organization announced that prices will start from $3,120 psf for a 710 sqft, two-bedroom with study unit which translates to $2.22 million.

The latest transaction at Neu at Novena was for an 818 sq ft, three-bedroom dual-key unit that changed hands for $2.39 million ($2,922 psf), according to a caveat lodged in August 2026.

Prices of new launches are likely to climb further. According to PropNex Research, recent CCR GLS sites have been awarded at $1,865 psf ppr for Peck Hay Road and $1,820 psf ppr for Bukit Timah Road. Based on these land prices, PropNex estimates that future CCR projects could cross $3,500 psf.

Kelvin Fong, CEO of PropNex, notes that several recent CCR launches have achieved average prices above $3,000 psf. “The market has demonstrated that buyers are willing to transact at these levels for well-located prime projects. Meanwhile, rising land costs are likely to place further upward pressure on future private home prices of 99-year leasehold projects in the CCR.”

PropNex Research also shows that the premium for new freehold launches has narrowed sharply. The median price of new freehold launches in the CCR was about $3,160 psf in 3Q2026, against about $3,110 psf for 99-year leasehold launches. That is a gap of roughly 1.6%, down from more than 37% in 2018.

Freehold for the long haul

Yet freehold land is increasingly scarce. Of the close to 4,000 new private non-landed homes launched in the CCR from 1Q2024 to 2Q2026, only 287, or 7%, were freehold, according to Huttons Asia.

“When considering two new launches in the same location, the premium between freehold and leasehold may not mean much. But 20 years down the road, when you want to resell, there will be a difference,” says Shaw. “That’s because the value of the property is the land, and not the building.”

Huttons’ data bears this out. Since 2015, resale freehold non-landed homes in the CCR have appreciated 36%, against 25% for 99-year leasehold non-landed homes.

Affluent buyers recognise the long-term value of freehold tenure, says Shaw. Far East Organization’s freehold Amber House, launched in June 2025, is 83% sold at an average of $3,055 psf, based on caveats lodged as at Sept 29.

The 105-unit Amber House is a redevelopment of the former Amber Glades, which Far East Organization acquired en bloc for $118.1 million in March 2011. As with The Serra, it held on to the site for a long time — 14 years — before launching.

Many of the buyers were older purchasers acquiring homes for their children, says Shaw. They preferred the four-bedroom units starting from $5 million. “They are buying for future generations.”

“The Serra Residences is one of the only two freehold launches in the CCR in 2026,” says Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia. “It offers buyers an opportunity to own a freehold non-landed home in the CCR for both wealth preservation and legacy planning.”

Rental demand

Given The Serra’s proximity to HealthCity Novena, SRI managing partner Ken Low expects buyers to be a mix of owner-occupiers and investors.

According to SRI’s research based on URA data, more than 1,000 private residential rental contracts were signed in the Novena Planning Area every quarter from 1Q2025 to 2Q2026. Volume rose 13.5% q-o-q to 1,262 contracts in 2Q2026.

Rents have held up as well. Two-bedroom units in Novena averaged $4,506 a month in 2Q2026, the highest since 1Q2025, according to SRI. “Demand spans a range of tenants, from healthcare professionals to families drawn to nearby schools, while larger four-bedroom homes continue to command significantly higher rents,” says Low.

St Joseph’s Institution Junior and Hong Wen School are within 1km of The Serra, and Novena MRT Station is an eight-minute walk away. Nearby malls include Square 2, Velocity and United Square.

No pressure to sell

Far East Organization acquired Pastoral View in 2010, before the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) was extended to developers in December 2011. The site is therefore not subject to the five-year ABSD remission deadline, which requires developers to complete a project and sell all its residential units within five years. That five-year deadline applies to more recent collective-sale and GLS sites.

“For The Serra Residences, we’re not under a deadline to sell, so we can take a measured approach to pricing,” says Shaw. “Our prices will reflect today’s market and the quality of what we’re delivering. We’re focused on the project’s long-term value, rather than on reducing prices to move units quickly. With just 133 homes, the choice of units will naturally be limited.”

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