This is the redeveloped Golden Mile Complex. Golden Mile Complex held a special place in my heart. While I did not go to Golden Mile Complex very often, perhaps two or three times a year, it was this little slither of Thailand that existed in modern Singapore. In many aspects, Golden Mile Complex was a place that was frozen in time. The place was dingy, messy and just plain old. The toilets were not maintained well and the place had a weird smell. The car park lots were too narrow for modern cars and the lifts seemed to be older than me!
However, this was a place where people came to get their Thailand fix. Be it at the numerous mookata outlets or just shopping at the Thai Supermarket. If you want to reminise about Golden Mile Complex, a friend of mine did a vide just before it shuttered. I had the honor of joining him when we went to shoot most of these scenes.
The smidge of positive news is that Golden Mile Complex, well the building at least, is to be conserved. This means that the developer cannot demolish the building. It can retrofit and structure, make it somewhat new. The commercial portion of the development will be called The Golden Mile.
So now this place is called Aurea. That is the residential building that is to be built next to Golden Mile Complex or the new The Golden Mile. For whatever reason or purpose, I am unsure. It really sounds weird. Well to me at least. If you want to build a residential building next to the commercial building, which is the conserved Golden Mile Complex, why not name it something close to the old name? One Golden Mile perhaps? Remember One Pearl Bank?
Well who am I to give advice to the developers? Namely Far East Organization (Far East) and Perennial Holdings (Perennial). Far East is the largest private developer in Singapore. It has developed over 780 developments including 55,000 private homes since 1960. This is what it says on their website. Perennial, well they hold many iconic era estate across Singapore. A few of notable mention are Chinatown Point, Capitol and CHIJMES. They too develop real estate and have presence in China, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Yes the developer profile is strong. It has to be. Golden Mile Complex was sold en bloc for SGD$700 million in 2022. You would need to be someone, or some group, with considerable financial muscle to be able to make such a purchase. After making the purchase, you would then need to top up the lease to a fresh 99-year period. This is exactly what the developer of Aurea did. Hence the fresh 99-year lease starts from 18 November 2024.
Details about the development
Aurea is a 99-year leasehold development. It will be built next to the refurbished and conserved Golden Mile Complex. That building, as mentioned, will be named The Golden Mile. The total site area is 144,908 square feet comprising of 188 residential units, 156 offices, 2 levels of retail and 19 medical suites. The expected completion of the project, namely the expected date for the project to obtain its temporary occupation permit is in the 2nd quarter of 2029.
The residential development, Aurea, will consist of a good mix of 2, 3 and 4-bedroom types. The 4-bedroom types come with private lift access.
Where is the development located?
Aurea is located at 802 Beach Road. It is located right next to The Golden Mile which has an address of 800 Beach Road.
The Aurea Location Map
The nearest MRT Station is Nicoll Highway MRT Station. The walk is 700 meters. It will take approximately 9 minutes. I am assuming that there will exist a link between The Aurea, The Golden Mile and Golden Mile Tower. This would mean that the portion that is relatively unsheltered would be from the St. John’s Headquarters onwards.
The walk from The Aurea to Nicoll Highway MRT Station
Nicoll Highway MRT Station is located along the Circle Line. The train journey to Raffles Place MRT Station will take approximately 8 minutes over 4 stations and will cost $1.29. You will need to make a change from the Circle Line to the North South Line at Marina Bay MRT Station.
Nicoll Highway MRT Station to Raffles Place MRT Station
The train journey to Orchard MRT Station will take approximately 12 minutes over 6 stations and will cost $1.40. You will need to make a change from the Circle Line to the North South Line at Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station.
Nicoll Highway MRT Station to Orchard MRT Station
The drive from Aurea to Raffles Place will take about 13 minutes and the distance travelled is about 5 kilometers. This Google Map query was done in the middle of the day on a weekday. Therefore, traffic conditions are generally light. You will need to factor in peak hour traffic if you are driving this route during peak hours in the morning and just after office hours.
The drive from Aurea to Raffles Place
The drive from Aurea to Orchard Road will take about 15 minutes and the distance travelled is about 3.8 kilometers. Once again, this Google Map query was done in the middle of the day on a weekday.
The drive from Aurea to Orchard Road
The selling points of the development
The location of Aurea is extremely prime. This is located at Beach Road, just at the edge of the Central Business District (CBD). In fact, if you consider Bugis as within the CBD (and there is no reason not to as it is located after the ERP gentry, then Aurea is one of the closest residential developments at the edge of the CBD. The other two notable ones, which are nearer, are Concourse Skyline and City Gate Residences. Anything nearer and you would be beyond the ERP gentry. In that case, the development that is just within the CBD would be DUO Residences.
The next selling point, allegedly, would be the price per square foot for a unit in Aurea. Based on what is reported, prices at Aurea are expected to start from SGD$2,750 per square foot. In the current market, this psf is reminiscent of new developments in places like Lorong Chuan and Tampines. Well it should still be marginally higher but would it not make sense to pay about 10-20% more for a development located along Beach Road than say Lorong Chuan?
If you were to compare the past transacted prices of City Gate and Concourse Skyline, Aurea is approximately a 20-25% premium from the resale prices at City Gate and Concourse Skyline. City Gate’s 99 year leasehold is from 2014 (88 years left) and Concourse Skyline’s 99 years stated from 2008 (82 years left). Aurea’s 99-year lease started in November 2024 (almost full 99 years). Aurea has 12.5% more lease than City Gate and 21% more lease than Concourse Skyline. Being a new development, closer to the food centre and amenities and linked to The Golden Mile, I would think that the premium is reasonable. New developments tend to have a premium of about 20+% over comparable developments in the vicinity.
A huge plus, and this is a real advantage, is that just across Aurea is Golden Mile Food Centre and wet market. Just across Aurea is a cluster of HDB developments. There is a community centre right next to the market as well, Kampong Glam Community Centre. Walk further north and you can avail yourself to another huge market and wide variety of shops at North Bridge Road. This is perhaps the ideal city living with a heartland feel. That was one of the reasons why the old Golden Mile Complex was so popular. It was right smack in the middle of a HDB enclave, surrounded by a slew of amenities as well as being centrally located in Singapore. The perfect blend of connectivity and convenience.
Possible bad points of the development
Possible road noise from Nicoll Highway perhaps? The developer clearly thinks that this could be an issue. On some of the unit type plans there exits “acoustic mitigation”. Clearly to mitigate the sound coming from somewhere. Therefore it is important to pick a good unit if you are looking to purchase a unit at Aurea.
Aurea
Pricing 4/5
It perplexes me why buyers persist with buying outside core central region properties when properties in Beach Road are going for rather similar psf. Is location of a development not one of the key factor of a sound property investment? If you intend to pay in excess of $2,500 psf for a leasehold property, I would think that it should be somewhere close to the city centre.
Location 4/5
I have been going on and on about Aurea’s location. Perhaps the downside of this would be the walk to the MRT station. Be it that it is unsheltered for about half the journey, the walk is actually not that far and this is so close to the city centre. Picture this, you like in a property like Aurea. You cross the road to a food centre and all the usual HDB amenities you can find at HDB shophouses. You are linked to a mall. You walk to Nicoll Highway MRT Station and get to your workplace at Raffles Place, all in under 20 minutes. (Walk 9 mins and train ride 8 minutes).
Now compare that to you living in The Chuan Park. Is this location in Chuan Park better? I am not so sure…
The Chuan Park’s surrounding
Property investment should be very simple. Purchase a property where people will want to live. Amenities, location and connectivity are all factors that should come into play. Then look at the price. Does it make sense to what is around the area and current market.
Yours sincerely,
Daryl Lum
