Condo Review: The Vision

About The Vision
West Coast's newest addition comes to you via Hong Kong's Cheung Kong. Guaranteeing many units a view of the sea, this District 5 condo is also priced very handsomely. Comprising two blocks and 14 landed homes (something you don't see too often these days) the 99-year development opened to much interest, with all 100 units in the first phase sold out.

Tenure: 99yrs
District: 5
Developer: Cheung Kong Property Development (Hong Kong)
Estimated TOP: Mid 2013
Floors: 33
Blocks: 2 and 14 strata-titled landed houses
Units: 295 total, 2BR (93), 3BR (154), 4BR (32), PH (2), Strata House (14)

Unit Sizes
2BR: 818, 829, 904 sqft
3BR: 1,259 - 1,313 sqft (PES: 1,776 - 2,110 sqft)
4BR: 1,604 sqft (PES: 2,562 sqft)
PH: 2,702 sqft
Strata Houses: 4,467 - 4,855 sqft

Notable Facilities:
Basement parking
Swimming pool

Location

Note: Map overlay is approximate. Images: Google Maps.

West Coast isn't exactly close to town. And it's nowhere near the IRs to have their sheen rub off on this condo. If you want to be brutally honest, this is a condo in Clementi.

That said, it's in a very quiet spot. If you're looking for the hustle and bustle of Ang Mo Kio or Bishan, this is not the place to be. Being near a huge industrial area means that the place is pretty much peaceful during weekends.

The West Coast View
There's the East Coast sea-view and then there's the West Coast sea-view. Unlike developments along Marine Parade, where residents get beautiful view of clear blue sea, a West Coast view gets you rows and rows of cranes and container boxes to the east and dusty grey industrial complexes and shipyards to the west.

View from 8th floor of Blk 715 (Facing South)

View of from 25th floor of Blk 717 Clementi West St 2 (Facing East)

Note the giant cranes of Pasir Panjang Terminal. The building site of The Vision can be seen in the foreground.

Jurong Island, the island of lights
Do you like orange lights? Then you must love the sea view after the sun sets. Jurong Island will light up the night sky with their flaring of waste oil from the oil refineries. If that's not enough, its multitude of flickering orange lamps that dot the horizon will do the trick.

What's more, the shipyards will light up your view of the west, while the Pasir Panjang Terminal will illuminate your eastern view. Your vision will be really bright indeed!

Closer view of the location. Note: Map overlay is approximate. Images: Google Maps.

Apart from that, it's worth mentioning that the West Coast is popular with Japanese and Korean expats (plenty of Japanese schools around). Also, West Coast Plaza (formerly Ginza Plaza) is just a short 700m walk away.

Prices
We really couldn't believe it when we heard it - $1,100 to $1,200 psf! The developers bought the land at a paltry $305 psf ppr and now they are selling it at nearly 3x the price. We actually thought this will be a mass market condo! How wrong were we!

904sqft 2BR units are selling in the range of $1,120 - $1,260psf, taking the total quantum to just over the $1m mark. A 1,259sqft 3BR is going for about $1,050psf, or about $1.3m.

Looking at next door's Blue Horizon (2005, 99-year), URA caveats in Feb 2010 showed prices at an average of $797 psf. The Vision is asking for a good $300 psf more.

The developers tried to 'lux' it up with marbled floor finishing, bathtubs and so on, but it is essentially a condo way out west. No MRT, no IR, no town centre, no nothing!

Ideal Units
If you look at the site layout, you'd notice that many units will get a view of the sea. Very smart planning we must say.

We'd take high floor units facing the sea (B1 and B2). The units to the east come face to face with Blue Horizon. The units to the west have an open view, but the land there is slated for residential development with a plot ratio identical to The Vision's, it's likely the view will be blocked eventually.

We feel it's worth looking at city-facing units (A2) south of the development. West Bay condo only goes up to six storeys, any units in The Vision higher than that would get an unblocked view of the east and the city.

Green arrows = good views, yellow = average, red = not ideal.

Final Word
Not our cup of tea. We feel this place is only for those who must live in the West. If you have that kind of budget, look at other condos like The Interlace at Alexandra or Trevista at Toa Payoh or even (dare we say it) Centro Residences, they offer much more in terms of location and pricing.

Alas, if you must live in the West, you must. Pop by the showroom to see it for yourself. There are plenty of units still available.

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