Fifteen Robin
Overview & Key Facts
Fifteen Robin is a 32-unit boutique high-rise at 15 Robin Road in District 10, completed in 2012 by T. K. Yeo (Pte) Ltd. The 17-storey block sits on a 99-year leasehold with approximately 85 years remaining — a healthy, non-decaying horizon for a buyer underwriting a 15–20 year hold. The unit mix is unusually clean for a boutique: roughly 16 two-bedroom units (~130 sqm) and 16 three-bedroom units (~170 sqm), with two units per floor and private-lift access into each apartment.
The transaction profile is the headline story. Zero resale caveats are on record but 91 rental transactions have been logged with an average of S$8,050 and a median of S$7,800 per month — an extraordinarily deep rental dataset for a 32-unit block (almost three rental transactions per unit) and a premium tenancy band that places Fifteen Robin firmly in the expat-family and senior-professional segment. This is, structurally, an investor-held rental asset operating in one of Singapore’s most established prime residential corridors.
The address itself does most of the heavy lifting. Robin Road runs along the spine of the elite D10 Tanglin / Bukit Timah belt, with Stevens MRT (Downtown Line and Thomson-East Coast Line interchange) at 360 metres — a genuine doorstep dual-line connection — and a primary-school catchment that includes ACS Primary, SCGS Primary, and Nanyang Primary, alongside an international-school cluster (ISS Preston, ISS Paterson) that anchors the long-running expat tenant demand. This review takes the rental thesis as the primary investment case and frames the boutique scale, premium location, and dual-line MRT access as the three pillars that justify the price band.
Location & Connectivity
Robin Road runs west off Bukit Timah Road just past Newton, threading the quieter residential pocket between Stevens Road, Dunearn Road, and the Goodwood Hill conservation area. Fifteen Robin sits at the eastern end of the road, which puts the development inside one of Singapore’s tightest concentrations of MRT, school, and lifestyle infrastructure. Stevens MRT at 360 metres is the standout commute asset — a 4–5 minute walk to a station that interchanges between the Downtown Line (DT) and the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), giving residents direct access to the CBD via DT (Bugis, Promenade, Downtown) and to Orchard, Marina Bay, and the East Coast via TEL. Newton MRT at 1.15 km adds NS/DT redundancy, and the upcoming Mt Pleasant TEL station at 1.26 km will further densify rail coverage on completion.
The school cluster is, by any honest measure, one of the strongest in Singapore. Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) sits 800 metres away, with Singapore Chinese Girls’ Primary School at 870 metres, Nanyang Girls’ High School at 990 metres, Nanyang Primary School at 1.04 km, St. Joseph’s Institution at 1.10 km, and St. Anthony’s Primary at 1.21 km. The international cohort is anchored by ISS International School (Preston campus 860m, Paterson campus 920m). Few Singapore addresses can match six MOE schools and two international campuses inside a 1.3 km radius.
Day-to-day amenity is the kind that doesn’t need to be argued: Goodwood Park Hotel, Far East Plaza, Tanglin Mall, Tanglin Shopping Centre, and the entire Orchard Road retail belt are within a 5–10 minute drive, with the Newton Food Centre hawker institution at 1 km and the Singapore Botanic Gardens a short MRT or 10-minute drive west. The wider corridor benefits from active URA Master Plan stewardship of the Orchard, Newton, and Tanglin precincts. There is no aspect of Fifteen Robin’s location that requires a buyer to compromise.
Schools & Education
2 primary schools within the 1 km Priority Phase balloting radius.
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) | primary | Within 1 km |
| ISS International School (Preston) | international | Within 1 km |
| Singapore Chinese Girls' School (Primary) | primary | Within 1 km |
| ISS International School (Paterson) | international | Within 1 km |
| Nanyang Girls' High School | secondary | Within 1 km |
| Nanyang Primary School | primary | ~1.0 km |
| St. Joseph's Institution | secondary | ~1.1 km |
| St. Anthony's Primary School | primary | ~1.2 km |
Facilities
Fifteen Robin is a 32-unit boutique — the maintenance-fund economics support a respectable but not lavish facilities suite. The development provides a small lap pool, a basic gym, BBQ pits, landscaped courtyard, covered car parking with one bay per unit, and 24-hour security with controlled-access entry. Each unit benefits from a private lift opening directly into the apartment, which buyers in this segment treat as a near-essential prime-D10 feature. Maintenance contributions sit in the S$500–800 range typical of a small premium block of this vintage — lower than full-resort developments such as D’Leedon or Leedon Green but higher than the no-facility micro-boutiques further down the price ladder.
“The private lift is the thing that sells this building. You step out of the lift and you’re in your living room — no shared corridor, no neighbours hearing your front door. For a 32-unit block at this price point, the level of privacy is genuinely unusual.”
— Tenant perspective on Fifteen Robin private-lift design via Singapore Expats community reviews
For households that want a recognisable D10 lifestyle without the 600–1,700 unit density of D’Leedon or Leedon Green, the Fifteen Robin facilities envelope is appropriately calibrated — enough for a daily swim and gym session, not so much that residents are paying for amenities they will not use. Substitute facilities — the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the Goodwood Hill green corridor, and the ActiveSG fitness venues at Delta and Bukit Gombak — are all reachable. Families seeking large-scale resort-style amenity (multiple pools, tennis courts, full clubhouse) will need to look at the larger 99-year and freehold mega-condos in the same belt.
Neighbourhood Comparison
Versus the prime-D10 cohort competing in the same MRT and school catchment, Fifteen Robin offers a deliberately narrow proposition. D’Leedon (99yr, 1,715 units) and Leedon Green (freehold, 638 units) deliver full resort facilities, deep transaction liquidity, and the price-discovery comfort of hundreds of resale comparables — at the cost of mega-development density and, in D’Leedon’s case, the same 99-year lease clock. Skye at Holland (99yr) and Hyll on Holland (freehold) compete on the western fringe of the same belt, with Hyll on Holland holding the freehold trump card. Fourth Avenue Residences (99yr) anchors the value-priced 99-year alternative one MRT stop west.
The trade-off framing: if a buyer wants pool, gym, multiple lobbies, full landscaping, and the comfort of a transaction-rich resale market, the D’Leedon / Leedon Green / Skye at Holland cohort is the right answer — and Fifteen Robin’s boutique scale, lighter facilities envelope, and zero-caveat resale profile are being traded against that comfort. If a buyer wants a private-lift 32-unit address with a Stevens DT/TEL doorstep, an exceptional rental dataset, and the lowest-density living format available in the immediate corridor, Fifteen Robin is the answer — and the absence of freehold tenure (vs Hyll on Holland and Leedon Green) is being accepted as the cost of that specificity. All five comparables sit inside the same school catchment and MRT envelope, which makes the choice fundamentally about scale and tenure rather than location.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIFTEEN ROBIN | 2012 | 32 | — | |
| SKYE AT HOLLAND | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2024 | 2025 | 666 | $2,945 |
| LEEDON GREEN | Freehold | 2021 | 638 | $2,785 |
| D'LEEDON | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2010 | 2014 | 1,703 | $1,856 |
| HYLL ON HOLLAND | Freehold | 2021 | 319 | $2,648 |
| FOURTH AVENUE RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 476 | $2,465 |
Lease Decay Analysis
The 99-year lease runs from 2012, meaning approximately 14 years have already been consumed. Roughly 85 years remain — still comfortably within the range where most banks will offer full financing without restrictions.
| Year | Lease remaining | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (now) | ~85 years | Full bank financing available |
| 2042 | ~69 years | CPF usage still unrestricted for most buyers |
| 2051 | ~59 years | Approaching 60-year threshold — CPF limits begin for some |
| 2071 | ~39 years | Significant financing restrictions for next buyer |
| 2111 | Expiry | Lease reverts to state |
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 ~75 years remaining, which is still very bankable. The risk profile changes for longer holds.
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates FIFTEEN ROBIN across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“Stevens MRT in five minutes flat, Downtown Line straight to Bugis or Telok Ayer for the office, Thomson-East Coast Line straight to Orchard or Marina Bay on weekends. The commute equation here is genuinely better than half the addresses in District 9 and 10.”
— Tenant feedback on Fifteen Robin commute and dual-line MRT via 99.co listings discussion
“We rented at Fifteen Robin specifically for the ACS Primary catchment and the proximity to ISS Preston for our older child. Two schools within an 800-metre walk and Stevens MRT for the secondary commute — the address solved every logistical problem we walked into Singapore with.”
— Expat-family resident on school catchment outcome via EdgeProp community comments
“The private lift is what differentiates this building. We’ve lived in larger condos in District 10 with shared corridors and lift-lobby noise — Fifteen Robin is materially quieter and more private. For 32 units, the management is responsive and the facilities are perfectly adequate. The trade-off is you’re paying a boutique premium per square foot.”
— Tenant perspective on building scale and finish via Stacked Homes reader discussion
Across community discussion, the recurring profile is consistent: Fifteen Robin functions as a premium expat-family and senior-professional rental address, with tenants citing the Stevens DT/TEL dual-line, the school cluster, and the private-lift format as the three reasons they chose the building over larger D10 alternatives. Owner-occupier discussion is thinner — in line with the zero-caveat resale profile — but where it surfaces, it tends to come from buyers who themselves operate as long-horizon investor-occupiers, treating the unit as a hold-and-let-eventually asset rather than a turnover product.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Stevens MRT (Downtown Line + Thomson-East Coast Line) at 360m — true dual-line doorstep walk
- Multi-line MRT redundancy: Stevens DT/TEL (360m), Newton NS/DT (1.15km), upcoming Mt Pleasant TEL (1.26km)
- Elite D10 Robin Road address — Tanglin / Bukit Timah belt, neighbourhood score 9.5/10
- Exceptionally deep premium rental dataset — 91 transactions on 32 units, average S$8,050 / median S$7,800
- Top-tier school cluster: ACS Primary (800m), SCGS Primary (870m), Nanyang Primary (1.04km), SJI (1.10km)
- International school catchment: ISS Preston (860m), ISS Paterson (920m) — anchors expat tenant demand
- Private-lift unit format — direct lift entry into each apartment, materially higher privacy than shared-corridor alternatives
- Generous early-2010s layouts: 2-bed ~130 sqm, 3-bed ~170 sqm, two units per floor across 17 storeys
- Healthy 99-year lease — 85 years remaining, no near-term lease-decay pricing pressure
- Boutique 32-unit scale — low-density, neighbour familiarity, far quieter than D’Leedon / Leedon Green at 600+ units
- Zero resale caveats on record — no public price-discovery data; underwriting relies entirely on asking prices and external valuation
- 99-year tenure (85 years remaining) — structurally below freehold competitors Hyll on Holland and Leedon Green
- Boutique 32-unit scale — thin transaction turnover, very limited unit choice when buying or selling
- Modest facilities envelope — small lap pool, basic gym, BBQ; no tennis courts, multiple pools, or full clubhouse
- En-bloc upside near-zero — small footprint, healthy lease, score 44/100
- Per-unit MCST contribution higher than at large-facility mega-developments amortising costs across 600–1,700 units
- 2012-vintage finishes — units may benefit from S$80,000–150,000 refresh to position at the top of the rental band
- Walkability score 58/100 understates lifestyle reality — pedestrian connectivity is moderate despite premium MRT and school proximity
Verdict
Fifteen Robin is a focused, well-engineered investor product: a 32-unit boutique on Robin Road with a 360-metre walk to Stevens MRT (DT/TEL dual-line), a private-lift unit format, an exceptionally deep premium rental dataset (91 transactions clustered around S$7,800/month), and one of the strongest school catchments on the island. Walkability of 58/100 understates the lifestyle reality — the score reflects pedestrian connectivity to the broadest amenity layer, but the qualitative overlay (Stevens DT/TEL doorstep, six MOE schools and two international campuses inside 1.3 km, Orchard a single MRT stop away) places the location in the upper tier of Singapore residential addresses.
The case against is narrow but worth stating cleanly: the 99-year tenure is healthy at 85 years remaining but is structurally inferior to the freehold cohort competing in the same belt (Hyll on Holland and Leedon Green at the freehold end, with D’Leedon and Skye at Holland on similar 99-year clocks). The boutique scale means 32 households absorb the maintenance-fund cost of facilities and management — per-unit MCST contribution is higher than at the 600–1,700 unit alternatives. And the absence of resale caveats means a first-time buyer is committing without the comfort of comparable transaction prints.
The ShiokNest composite score of 61/100 reflects the balance: outstanding MRT access (9.0/10 — Stevens DT/TEL at 360m is one of the strongest dual-line walks in any Singapore boutique), a top-tier neighbourhood score (9.5/10 — D10 Robin Road sits in the elite Tanglin / Bukit Timah belt), and solid value (7.5/10) and unit-layout (7.5/10) marks driven by generous early-2010s design and a deep premium rental anchor. Lease (7.0/10) and facilities (6.5/10) sit at the modest end of the range — appropriate for a 99-year boutique — and prevent the score from tipping into the upper bracket reserved for freehold or large-facility prime D10 product.