Kent Ridge Hill Residences
A rare full-fledged condo in Buona Vista and Pasir Panjang area
Over the last couple of years, there haven’t been many full-fledged condominiums launched in the Pasir Panjang or South Buona Vista area, until Kent Ridge Hill Residences came along.
This site was formerly the home of Vista Park condo, which was acquired by Oxley Holdings via a collective sale back in December 2017 for $418 million (or $1,096 psf ppr).
Almost a year later, Kent Ridge Hill Residences was launched back in November 2018, completing Oxley Holdings’ series of new launch condos in 2018 alone.
The developer managed to sell around 20% of this Pasir Panjang condo during the launch weekend. Honestly, the result isn’t too bad for a ‘gloomy’ second half of 2018.
So is this condo a good buy and what can you expect from it as a prospect? Let’s get into the details and our review of Kent Ridge Hill Residences.
Kent Ridge Hill Residences Developer
Oxley Holdings is a home-grown real estate developer in Singapore which is mainly involved in property development and investment since 2008. It was incorporated and listed on Singapore’s stock exchange in 2010.
In fact, they are one of the fastest growing property developers in Singapore. Since it was established, Oxley Holdings has developed more than 30 projects in Singapore alone, and a couple of others in countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, China, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Myanmar.
Its most recent projects in Singapore before developing Kent Ridge Hill Residences include The Verandah Residences, Affinity at Serangoon, Riverfront Residences and Mayfair Gardens.
These projects were all launched within 2018 and it does seem like Oxley Holdings is breaking away from its well-known reputation of being the ‘king of shoebox apartments’. Most of the condo launches in 2018 were mainly full-fledged condos.
The developer has also won numerous awards over the years, including PropertyGuru’s Best Office Architectural Design 2017 (for Oxley Tower) and RESI Awards’ Development Of The Year for Royal Wharf (the group’s London project) in 2015.
Kent Ridge Hill Residences Location
Kent Ridge Hill Residences is located at 50 South Buona Vista Road, Singapore 118167 within the Pasir Panjang/Buona Vista precinct. As this Buona Vista condominium’s name implies, it is situated just next to the 47-hectare Kent Ridge Park; between the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Singapore Science Park.
One of the best features about Kent Ridge Hill Residences’ location is that it is just at the fringe of the central business precinct of Singapore and yet within a private residential enclave.
Thus, not only you will enjoy convenience to the core central, but you’ll also get some peace and quiet from living within Kent Ridge Hill Residences.
Home for major international pharma and tech companies
The Buona Vista/One North area has been very well-known as one of the precincts for business activities in Singapore. As a matter of fact, It is currently housing some of the biggest pharmaceutical and tech companies in Singapore. Just to name a few familiar ones – P&G Innovation, Merz Asia Pacific, Kerry, Google, Walt Disney, Apple, Microsoft and many more.
In general, you are practically situated in the heart of a business district when you’re living at Kent Ridge Hill Residences. So, if you happen to be working or hope that you’ll be working in some of these big companies, the location of Kent Ridge Hill Residences couldn’t be more ideal for you.
As you may have noticed, most of these companies are mainly based overseas and Singapore is just an epicenter for their business to reach out to the Asia Pacific region. Therefore, it’s common for these companies to relocate some of their staff (especially the ones holding higher positions) to Singapore for a couple of years.
When you look at it from an investment point of view, Kent Ridge Hill Residences could possibly be one of the top choices for tenants – especially if they prefer to live in a conventional and modern condominium and yet not living too far from their workplace. Anyway, I’ll touch on the investment topic later on in this article.
Schools and educations for the elites
If you are a local looking to get your school-going child into a good primary school, it is unfortunate that Kent Ridge Hill Residences condo isn’t near any.
However, if you have a grown-up who is looking for tertiary education, you’ll be more than happy to know that the Anglo-Chinese Junior College, Singapore Polytechnic, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) are just within close proximity.
In addition, INSEAD – one of the world’s largest and leading graduate business schools is also located just less than 10 minutes’ drive away from Kent Ridge Hill Residences. If you have no idea how ‘prestigious’ INSEAD is, here’s an example: a 10-Month program at INSEAD will set a person back with a school fee of around $123,000 (Singapore dollars).
Short walk to Pasir Panjang MRT station
The closest MRT station to Kent Ridge Hill Residences is the Pasir Panjang MRT station. It is just around 700-meters away and will take you around 9-10 minutes to walk there (based on Google map).
The Pasir Panjang MRT station is situated along the Circle MRT line of Singapore which will directly lead you to places such as Harbourfront, One-North, Buona Vista and even further to the Paya Lebar Business hub.
By 2025, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has confirmed that 3 more stations, Keppel, Cantonment and Prince Edward will in operation. This 3 stations will ‘close up’ the loop of the Circle MRT line and in future, it will only take you 6-8 stops to reach the Marina Bay and Orchard Road precinct.
Within close proximity to the Central Business District and Marina Bay
Kent Ridge Hill Residences is located just a mere 10-15 minutes’ drive away to the Central Business District (CBD) of Singapore and the Marina Bay Financial Center, via the West Coast Highway.
Just further down while traveling along the West Coast Highway, drivers will be linked to the Marina-Coastal Expressway (MCE) and the East Coast Park Expressway (ECP) – which will take them all the way to the eastern part of Singapore and also the Changi Airport.
For homeowners at Kent Ridge Hill Residences who are not driving, they could also walk out to Pasir Panjang Road and hop on public buses which can take them directly to the core central and eastern region of Singapore.
Kent Ridge Hill Residences Condo Facilities
As you step into Kent Ridge Hill Residences, you would actually feel that you are situated within the lush greenery of Kent Ridge park itself.
You will be greeted by the moving waters from the wall structure which resembles a waterfall that sets your mood for the more exciting features ahead within the condominium.
Kent Ridge Hill Residences condo is practically elevated above the road levels in order to offer that little bit of exclusivity for the residents.
It is being designed to blend in together with the hillside landscape and its the surroundings which will introduce that sense of amplitude that nature presents.
Unlike other developments in the Buona Vista area, you’ll find that Kent Ridge Hill Residences has an abundance of facilities from waterfront pavilions, a luxurious 50-meter lap, a tropical walk trail to cabanas for relaxation purposes.
The floating gym is perhaps the key highlight in this Buona Vista condo. It sort of resembles one of America’s finest architectural masterpieces by Frank Lloyd Wright – called the Falling Water.
Being piled over the water features, it resembles one of the waterfalls which is cascading from the rocks.
The party deck and waterside banquet will be the best spots to entertain your friends and guests outside of your apartment. They are ideal for socializing, catching up with friends over some wine under a cozy and comfy environment.
Kent Ridge Hill Residences Floor Plan and Unit Types
Kent Ridge Hill Residences condo consists of 11 residential blocks (5-storey tall) with 498 apartments units and 50 strata houses (total 548 units). 
The total land size of Kent Ridge Hill Residences is around 319,249 square feet and there is a wide range of unit types from 1-bedroom to 5-bedroom plus study penthouses.
Here are the Kent Ridge Hill Residences floor plan for each unit types.
- 1-Bedroom (474 to 592-sqft)
- 1-Bedroom + Study (517 to 646-sqft)
- 2-Bedroom (646 to 743-sqft)
- 2-Bedroom + Study (743 to 893-sqft)
- 3-Bedroom (883 to 1001-sqft)
- 3-Bedroom + Study Penthouse (1,399 to 1,442-sqft)
- 4-Bedroom Penthouse (1,518 to 1,927-sqft)
- 5-Bedroom Penthouse (1,776 to 1,787-sqft)
- 4-Bedroom Strata House (1,808-sqft)
- 5-Bedroom Strata House (2,067-sqft)
Kent Ridge Hill Residences Price Guide
As of 16 March 2019, the Kent Ridge Hill Residences price indication for each unit type are as follow. Please note that these prices are subjected to changes, so do give us a call at (+65) 6631-8384 or leave us a note using the form below to get the latest update on the pricing and unit availability.
| Unit Type | Size | Indicative Pricing |
| 1-Bedroom | 474 to 592-sqft | $778,000 |
| 1-Bedroom + Study | 517 to 646-sqft | $884,000 |
| 2-Bedroom | 646 to 743-sqft | $1,092,000 |
| 2-Bedroom + Study | 743 to 893-sqft | $1,312,000 |
| 3-Bedroom | 883 to 1001-sqft | $1,535,000 |
| 4-Bedroom | 1518 to 1927-sqft | $2,558,000 |
| 5-Bedroom | 1776 to 1787-sqft | $2,785,000 |
| 4-Bedroom Strata House | 1808-sqft | $2,688,000 |
| 5-Bedroom Strata House | 2067-sqft | $2,820,000 |
Kent Ridge Hill Residences Showflat Location
The Kent Ridge Hill Residences showflat is located on the actual site of the condo along South Buona Vista road – where Vista Park condo used to be.
If you would like to make an appointment and view the showflat, do use the form before and drop us a note. Otherwise, you can just give us a call at (+65) 6631-8384.
Kent Ridge Hill Residences Review
Before we go into the Kent Ridge Hill Residences review, let’s have a quick understanding of the precinct and what has happened in the area over the last few years.
First of all, Kent Ridge Hill Residences is located in District 5 of Singapore – which comprises of main areas such as West Coast, parts of Clementi and Pasir Panjang.
Over the last couple of years, you will find tons of new condos in the West Coast Vale area being launched for sale (which are mostly 99-year leasehold), while Pasir Panjang was overwhelmed with many relatively small freehold projects.
Despite being a leasehold condo, we still found a couple of things to like about Kent Ridge Hill Residences.
Private residential enclave
We feel that the purpose of buying a private property is that it has to be “private”. Thus, sometimes we don’t really understand why homebuyers (especially in the mass market region) are willing to spend tons of their hard-earned money on high-density condominiums or those that are located within heartland estates.
Buying a condominium is really about ‘upgrading’ your lifestyle and we feel that Kent Ridge Hill Residences has really fulfilled this aspect. Within the South Buona Vista estate, you will find mostly private residential homes and there aren’t any bus services routing through.
This really offers residents the kind of privacy and exclusive they should have when living in private property.
Close proximity to business centers
As you may already know, the Central Business District (CBD) is the city’s heartbeat and that’s where are most of the major international companies are located. We believe 7 out of 10 working adults in Singapore would be working in the CBD.
And if you are one of them, you will be happy to know that traveling to the CBD will only take you around 15 to 20 minutes.
Another couple of prominent business centers in Singapore include the Science Park and One North area. They are mainly homes to many top pharmaceutical and technology companies as shared earlier in the article.
If you are looking at this from an investment perspective, you will be glad that Kent Ridge Hill Residences is literally in the center of these major business districts in Singapore – which may translate into a healthy rental demand due to its convenience.
Kent Ridge Hill Residence price point
Here’s where we start off with the bad stuff.
Back in April 2018, Oxley Holdings launched The Verandah Residences – a 170-unit freehold apartment along Pasir Panjang Road. To date, the development has already been fully sold (within just 4 months) at an estimated average psf price of S$1,822.
As of 23 March 2019, Kent Ridge Hill Residences has sold around 144 units at an average of $1,707 psf. That is around a 26.2 percent take-up rate in 5 months (since it was launch in November 2018).
Just simply by comparing the price point of these 2 projects and tenure, you will probably understand why Kent Ridge Hill Residences isn’t as popular as The Verandah Residences despite being relatively close to one another.
From the angle of Kent Ridge Hill’s price point, we do feel that it’s slightly on the steep side based on the above comparison. In our opinion, a median price of $16xx psf would be much fairer and attractive to homebuyers.
Lack of amenities
Just walk around Kent Ridge Hill Residences, you will find that there aren’t much amenities nearby – such as supermarkets, or grocery stores etc. You will probably need to depend heavily on delivery services or travel out of your residential area to the nearby shopping malls to get your daily necessities.
And we say ‘travel’, we don’t mean by foot. You will likely want to drive out or take public transport.
Too much ‘unnecessary’ balcony space
Honestly, the layouts at Kent Ridge Hill Residences would be almost ideal if the developer didn’t put in these redundant balcony spaces on some of the unit types. Just take a look at 3-Bedroom units and you can see that the balcony stretches out to one of the common bedrooms.
Is this a practical design, or is it just a way for developers to make that few extra bucks off prospects? We shall leave that for you to decide.
Final Word
From the looks of Kent Ridge Hill Residences, it does look amazing.
We love the landscape and design of the development and it really stands out among the rest of the nearby developments – which are either smaller or older.
But when we dive deeper into the details and pricing, it does seem that this new South Buona Vista condo has fallen short of our expectations. It’s like buying a shirt off the rack that looks really nice & classy, but somehow it just doesn’t fit nicely onto your body.
If location and lifestyle are all you are looking for in a condominium, then there isn’t much to complain about Kent Ridge Hill Residences. However, we just feel that the price is little off and doesn’ match our perceived value of this property.