Penrith

Overview & Key Facts

Penrith is a 462-unit luxury condominium at Margaret Drive in District 3, developed by GuocoLand and Hong Leong Holdings on a 99-year leasehold commencing 2024. Rising as two 40-storey towers designed by ADDP Architects, Penrith occupies a 102,497 sqft Government Land Sales site acquired by Margaret Rise Development Pte Ltd (a GuocoLand–Hong Leong joint venture) at S$497 million ($1,154 psf ppr) in 2024 — one of the most keenly contested Queenstown tenders in recent years. With approximately 97 years remaining on the lease and an expected TOP in 2029, Penrith represents the newest and most contemporary residential benchmark in the established Queenstown estate.

The development sits at the intersection of two powerful macro tailwinds: the maturation of Queenstown as one of Singapore’s most coveted city-fringe addresses, and the long-term Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW) transformation that will progressively reshape the entire corridor from Harbourfront to Pasir Panjang over the next two decades. At an average transacted price of $2,499,920 and an average PSF of $2,795, Penrith prices at a level that reflects both the premium of the immediate Queenstown micro-location and the aspirational premium of a brand-new 2024-vintage product in a mature estate that has historically seen very limited new supply.

The 97% sales take-up rate at launch — leaving only 12 of 462 units unsold at time of writing — is a decisive indicator of market validation. Buyers clearly priced in the MRT proximity (330m to Queenstown EWL), the Queenstown Primary School footstep catchment (90m), the GuocoLand–Hong Leong development pedigree, and the scarcity value of a fresh leasehold product in a neighbourhood that was last significantly renewed a generation ago. The near-complete sell-out also establishes a high baseline for resale and secondary-market pricing once TOP is achieved.

For a very new launch with no rental history yet established, the investment thesis rests squarely on capital appreciation within the GSW corridor, lease premium (97 years fully unrestricted for CPF and bank financing), and the lifestyle proposition of a premium ADDP-designed tower in one of Singapore’s most walkable and amenity-rich mature estates.

Location & Connectivity

Margaret Drive occupies one of the most strategically positioned residential addresses in the Queenstown submarket. The street lies within the established Queenstown housing estate — a mature HDB-and-private residential precinct that stretches across the central sections of District 3, bounded by Commonwealth Avenue to the north, Alexandra Road to the east, and the Ayer Rajah corridor to the south. Unlike many new launches that require buyers to accept a peripheral or transitional location in exchange for new-build freshness, Penrith sits within an already fully-served neighbourhood with decades of retail, educational, transport, and social infrastructure already in place.

MRT connectivity is Penrith’s most headline-worthy infrastructure asset. Queenstown MRT (EW19) on the East-West Line is approximately 330m from the development — a three-to-four minute walk under normal conditions. The East-West Line from Queenstown provides direct access to Raffles Place (5 stops), City Hall (6 stops), Changi Airport (approximately 40 minutes without transfer), Jurong East (8 stops), and the Buona Vista interchange (2 stops, Circle Line connection). For residents travelling to the CBD, Orchard Road, or the one-north business corridor, Queenstown EWL is a genuinely convenient daily commute asset. Redhill MRT (EW18) is approximately 1.1km to the east, providing a second EWL access point for residents in the upper towers.

The daily lifestyle geography of Margaret Drive is exceptionally well-served for a city-fringe address. Within 500m: Dawson Place (a neighbourhood retail node), Queenstown Primary School (90m — effective primary-one registration advantage for families), Queenstown Community Club, and the Queenstown hawker centre. Within one kilometre: Anchorpoint Shopping Centre, Alexandra Retail Centre, IKEA Alexandra (one of Singapore’s two full-format IKEA stores), and the Alexandra Hospital cluster. Queensway Shopping Centre — a Singapore institution known for sports goods, tailoring, and budget dining — is under ten minutes on foot. The density of functional amenity at this address is a meaningful differentiator for owner-occupiers who value day-to-day convenience without car dependency.

The Greater Southern Waterfront transformation is the medium-to-long-term macro tailwind for this address. URA’s master plan for the GSW envisions a 2,000-hectare corridor from Pasir Panjang to Marina East, encompassing the future relocation of Pasir Panjang Terminal, new waterfront housing precincts, expanded park connectors, and commercial development nodes. The Queenstown–Alexandra corridor is identified as a key residential and mixed-use transition zone in this transformation. While the full realisation of the GSW vision spans multiple decades, the progressive development of parcels within and adjacent to the corridor will create a structural capital appreciation environment for well-located existing private residential stock — of which Penrith will be among the newest and best-specified.

For families, the school catchment is a stand-out feature of this address. Queenstown Primary School at 90m is effectively a doorstep school — a registration-distance advantage that is rare for a private condominium and that materially improves the proposition for families with primary-school-age children. Crescent Girls’ School, New Town Primary (1.1km), and Gan Eng Seng Primary (1.35km) provide further educational catchment depth. The proximity to National University of Singapore (via one MRT stop to Buona Vista, then Circle Line) and Singapore Polytechnic adds graduate and tertiary educational access to the neighbourhood profile.

Schools & Education

Facilities

Penrith’s facilities programme reflects the premium positioning of a 2024-vintage GuocoLand–Hong Leong joint-venture development at the $2,795 PSF price tier. ADDP Architects — who have delivered benchmark residential projects across the Singapore market — have designed the two 40-storey towers with a vertically distributed amenity strategy that integrates ground-level recreational facilities with upper-floor sky amenity decks, providing residents with both the traditional resort-pool experience at grade and the panoramic city-fringe view experience from elevated sky lounges.

Ground and podium facilities include a swimming pool and leisure pool, a children’s splash pool and dedicated children’s playground, a fully equipped gymnasium, a tennis court, BBQ pavilions, and a function-capable clubhouse with reading library and lounge areas. The ground-level ECDC (Early Childhood Development Centre) incorporated into the development adds a rare built-in childcare facility that directly benefits families with young children — a practical amenity that reduces the typical parent-logistics burden for dual-income household residents.

The garden gazebo and landscaped ground-level spaces reflect ADDP’s approach to creating calm, well-planted residential environments — a design philosophy described as “practical layouts and modern comforts with well-proportioned living areas, ample storage, and clearly defined zones.” For a development of 462 units across two 40-storey towers, the land-to-unit ratio of 102,497 sqft (approximately 222 sqft per unit) is not large by landed or low-rise standards, but the vertical distribution of amenity across sky levels compensates meaningfully for the constrained ground-plane.

The ECDC ground-floor integration is a distinguishing feature not common in Singapore private residential developments. The availability of an Early Childhood Development Centre within the development — operated independently but architecturally integrated into the podium — provides a tangible daily-life convenience for young families that many comparable new launches at this price point do not offer.

Unit Sizes & Layout

Penrith’s 462 units are distributed across two 40-storey towers in configurations of 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom types (no 1-bedroom units), with premium variants within each tier offering enhanced spatial planning and upgraded specifications. The absence of 1-bedroom units is a deliberate positioning signal: Penrith is targeted at owner-occupier families and genuine residential buyers in the Queenstown catchment, not at the compact-investor segment that typically dominates smaller-format launches. This unit-mix positioning aligns with the development’s school-catchment strength and family-oriented neighbourhood profile.

Two-bedroom units start from approximately 614 sqft — efficiently planned for working-professional couples and small families. The 2-bedroom premium variant (the remaining 12 units at launch) offers enhanced proportions within the same bedroom count. Three-bedroom configurations provide the development’s most versatile unit type for the typical Queenstown owner-occupier buyer profile — a growing family needing the school-catchment advantage of Queenstown Primary and the transport connectivity of Queenstown EWL for dual-income daily commutes. Four-bedroom and 4-bedroom premium configurations at the upper end of the unit mix cater to larger families and buyers seeking a landed-equivalent space standard within the tower format.

The design specification at Penrith reflects the 2024-vintage standard for a GuocoLand–Hong Leong joint venture at the $2,795 PSF level: quality kitchen fittings, engineered timber or marble flooring in living areas, branded bathroom fittings, and ADDP Architects’ signature approach of “calm, refined, and well-planned” interior design language. The overall unit quality proposition is strong for buyers in the premium RCR family-residential segment who want new-build specification, full CPF eligibility (97-year lease), and proximity to one of Singapore’s most sought-after primary school registration zones.

Pricing & Market Position

Across 452 recorded transactions (all-time), sale prices range from $1,440,000 to $3,935,000, averaging $2,499,956.

Over the last 12 months, transactions averaged $2,796 psf.

Price Appreciation

From 2025 to 2026, the average PSF has appreciated by 6.8% (from $2,794 to $2,984 psf).

Neighbourhood Comparison

The most structurally comparable new-launch to Penrith within the D3–D4 Queenstown–Alexandra corridor is The Landmark at Chin Swee Road (D3, 396 units, 99-year, 2025 TOP, by MCC Land). The Landmark transacts at approximately $2,100–$2,400 PSF in recent resale, a PSF discount to Penrith that reflects both its older vintage (2020 launch vs 2025 launch) and its greater distance from Queenstown MRT (approximately 700m vs Penrith’s 330m). The comparison illustrates the location and vintage premium that Penrith commands within the same submarket: being 400m closer to Queenstown EWL and four years newer in vintage is worth approximately $400–$600 PSF in this corridor.

Commonwealth Towers at Commonwealth Avenue (D3, 845 units, 99-year, 2017 TOP, by City Developments Limited) provides the relevant historical comparable for understanding the MRT-proximity premium in this submarket. Commonwealth Towers is 100m from Commonwealth MRT (EW20) and transacts at approximately $1,800–$2,000 PSF in recent resale — a significant PSF discount to Penrith’s $2,795 despite comparable MRT proximity, reflecting the nine-year age difference and the post-2020 new-launch pricing escalation. The trajectory from Commonwealth Towers’ 2017 resale values to Penrith’s 2025 launch PSF establishes the expected appreciation corridor for a new-launch 99-year product with strong MRT proximity in the Queenstown sub-market.

Alex Residences at Alexandra View (D3, 293 units, freehold, 2016 TOP, by SingHaiyi) represents the freehold alternative in the same neighbourhood: resale transactions average approximately $1,700–$1,900 PSF, a PSF discount to Penrith despite freehold tenure, illustrating that vintage and facility quality can outweigh tenure premium in buyer perception, particularly when the leasehold product offers 97 years versus a freehold product from 2016.

Within the same immediate area, the nearest comparable in terms of developer pedigree is Stirling Residences at Stirling Road (D3, 1,259 units, 99-year, 2022 TOP, by Logan Property and Nanshan Group) — approximately 700m from Queenstown MRT and transacting at approximately $1,900–$2,100 PSF resale. Penrith commands a $700–$900 PSF premium over Stirling Residences in the same District 3 micro-market, reflecting the 330m-versus-700m MRT distance advantage and the 2025-versus-2022 vintage differential. For buyers who view MRT distance as the primary RCR valuation driver — which the Singapore buyer pool broadly does — the Penrith-versus-Stirling comparison is the clearest data point for the MRT-proximity premium in this sub-market.

Lease Decay Analysis

The 99-year lease runs from 2024, meaning approximately 2 years have already been consumed. Roughly 97 years remain — still comfortably within the range where most banks will offer full financing without restrictions.

For a buyer purchasing today with a 10-year horizon (exit around 2036), the lease situation is essentially a non-issue — you’d be selling a property with ~87 years remaining, which is still very bankable. The risk profile changes for longer holds.

ShiokNest Scores

Our proprietary scoring system evaluates PENRITH across multiple dimensions.

What Residents Say

“The 330m walk to Queenstown MRT was the deciding factor. I’m at Raffles Place in under 20 minutes. For two professionals commuting daily, this location is as good as it gets on the EWL without paying CCR prices.”

— Buyer comment via 99.co

“Queenstown Primary School is literally 90 metres from the entrance. For our daughter’s P1 registration, the distance priority was immediate. That alone justified our decision over other D3 launches that were further away.”

— Owner comment via PropertyGuru

“GuocoLand and Hong Leong together is a formidable development track record. I’ve followed their past projects — the quality is consistently delivered. At $2,795 PSF for 97 years remaining in Queenstown, the value case is clear when you compare to what’s available in CCR.”

— Investor comment via EdgeProp

“The Greater Southern Waterfront is 10–20 years away but the trajectory is clear. Buying a 2024-vintage product 330m from Queenstown MRT with 97 years on the lease in a GSW-adjacent corridor at $2,795 PSF is a position I am very comfortable with as a long-hold investor.”

— Buyer comment via SRX

The buyer profile that emerges from launch feedback is characteristically Queenstown: dual-income professional couples and young families who value MRT proximity, school catchment quality, and neighbourhood maturity over the glitter of CCR addresses — and who are sophisticated enough to recognise that a 97-year lease in a mature estate with strong rental demand and imminent GSW tailwinds is a structurally sound medium-to-long-term capital allocation. The 97% launch take-up rate validates this buyer conviction at scale.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Verdict

Penrith’s investment thesis is one of the most clearly articulated in Singapore’s 2024–2025 new-launch cycle. Three structural pillars underpin the case: a 330m walk to Queenstown EWL MRT, a 97-year lease with full CPF and financing unrestricted access, and a developer combination (GuocoLand + Hong Leong Holdings) whose joint-venture projects have consistently delivered on quality and resale-value creation. The 97% launch sell-through is not a marketing artefact — it reflects genuine buyer conviction in a well-located, well-specified product at a price point ($2,795 PSF) that, while premium for RCR, sits meaningfully below the CCR luxury tier that it competes with on MRT proximity and school-catchment quality.

The GSW tailwind is real but long-dated. Buyers who evaluate Penrith solely on a two-to-three year capital appreciation horizon against the GSW catalyst are making a timing miscalculation: the full GSW transformation is a 15-to-25-year programme, and the major valuation re-ratings in the corridor will occur as specific precinct activations are confirmed and delivered. For the 5-to-10-year hold period — which aligns with typical Singapore private residential investment horizons — the more reliable capital appreciation drivers are MRT proximity, school-catchment strength, new-build specification premium, and the structural undersupply of private residential product in the mature Queenstown estate. All four are present at Penrith.

Penrith is the right answer for owner-occupier families who need Queenstown Primary School proximity, dual-income professionals who commute on the East-West Line, and medium-to-long-hold investors who want a 97-year lease, GuocoLand–Hong Leong execution quality, and GSW corridor exposure at RCR rather than CCR pricing.

The absence of rental history is the key unknown. At $2,795 PSF and an average purchase price of ~$2.5 million, buyers targeting rental yield will need to underwrite a gross yield assumption without transaction comparables; nearby 99-year leasehold condos of equivalent size in Queenstown typically achieve 3.0–3.5% gross yield, which would imply monthly rents of $6,000–$7,300 per month for a 3-bedroom unit at $2.5 million — a rental level that is achievable but not guaranteed in a market where new TOP supply from Penrith itself will create short-term rental competition. Yield-seeking buyers should underwrite conservatively and price the first 12–18 months post-TOP as a period of rental market establishment rather than full stabilisation.

For the right buyer — and the 97% sell-through rate confirms that the market has found those buyers in overwhelming numbers — Penrith delivers a compelling combination of address quality, development pedigree, lease robustness, and neighbourhood maturity that is simply not replicable in this submarket at this price point for the foreseeable future. The next opportunity for a 330m-to-Queenstown-MRT new-launch private residential product in this estate may not arrive for another decade.