Peace Mansion
Overview & Key Facts
Peace Mansion is a 32-storey residential tower at 1 Sophia Road in District 9, developed by Kian An Realty and completed in 1977 as the residential component of the larger Peace Centre mixed-use complex. Built by Low Keng Huat Construction — the same firm behind People’s Park Complex, the UOB Building, and the Mandarin Hotel — the project was a S$30 million joint venture between Singapore and Hong Kong businessmen, and was one of the city’s early experiments in mixed-use high-rise development. The 86-unit tower sits behind the 10-storey commercial podium of Peace Centre, sharing a site of approximately 7,118 sqm at the junction of Selegie Road and Sophia Road. The development’s 99-year lease commenced 2 June 1970, which means only approximately 44 years of tenure remain as of 2026 — a critical factor for any buyer or tenant evaluating the property today.
Peace Mansion’s place in Singapore property history was cemented by its S$650 million collective sale in December 2021 to a joint venture led by CEL Development (a subsidiary of Chip Eng Seng), SingHaiyi Crystal, and Ultra Infinity — the largest en-bloc deal of that year. That transaction ended 14 years of failed sale attempts dating back to 2007, and effectively wrote Peace Mansion’s final chapter as a residential address. The JV is redeveloping the site into One Sophia, a mixed-use development with retail, offices, F&B, and city residences, with an estimated development value of S$1.5 billion. By 2024, Peace Centre had closed its doors and vacated tenants had departed; the legacy residential units recorded their last transactions in 2021 at S$576–S$668 psf on a lease then carrying approximately 50 years of remaining term.
For historical context and research purposes, Peace Mansion’s residential units were generously proportioned for their era — 84 apartments and 2 penthouses ranging from 2,347 to 2,605 square feet — reflecting 1970s planning norms that have long since been superseded by the compact unit formats of modern Singapore development. Buyers and researchers examining comparable D9 assets should treat Peace Mansion’s transaction record as historical data rather than a live market benchmark, given the en-bloc closure and imminent redevelopment.
Location & Connectivity
Peace Mansion occupied one of Singapore’s most strategically central addresses — the junction of Selegie Road and Sophia Road in District 9, placing it equidistant between the Orchard Road retail belt to the south, the cultural institutions of the Civic District to the east, and the heritage shophouse streets of Little India and Rochor to the north. The 175-metre double frontage along Selegie and Sophia Roads gave the development exceptional visibility, and the surrounding amenity layer was, by any objective measure, among the richest of any residential address in Singapore.
Rail access in the 2010s–2020s was formidable. The opening of Bencoolen MRT (Downtown Line, DT21) at approximately 330 metres brought a 4-minute walk to the DTL network serving Bugis, Chinatown, and Expo. Rochor MRT (DT13) at 490 metres added a second Downtown Line node. Bras Basah MRT (Circle Line, CC2) at 520 metres provided cross-island access via the CCL. Dhoby Ghaut MRT (North-South / North-East / Circle Line interchange) was accessible at approximately 700 metres — a triple-line interchange that effectively gave Peace Mansion residents six MRT lines within a 10-minute walk. For an ageing 99-year leasehold block, this multi-line coverage was arguably its single strongest contemporary selling point.
Educational institutions in the immediate vicinity were distinguished rather than numerous. The School of the Arts Singapore (SOTA) was 230 metres away — an exceptional proximity for families with arts-track children. Singapore Management University (SMU), LASALLE College of the Arts, and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) were all within 10–15 minutes on foot, creating a de facto arts and tertiary education cluster. Primary school options — Farrer Park Primary (1.24 km), Anglo-Chinese School Junior (1.32 km) — were present but less concentrated than the school clusters found in established residential neighbourhoods like Buona Vista or Katong. Day-to-day retail was well served by Plaza Singapura (approximately 1.0 km), Bugis Junction (approximately 1.2 km), and the street-level F&B corridors of Bras Basah Road.
Facilities
Peace Mansion’s in-compound facilities reflected the mixed-use planning philosophy of the 1970s rather than the resort-condo format of modern Singapore. Residents had access to a swimming pool, covered car parking, a playground, and 24-hour security — a reasonable provision for the era, though far below the gymnasium, multiple pools, function rooms, tennis courts, and concierge services that have become standard at D9 new launches. The tennis courts and playground were located on the roof of the adjacent Peace Centre podium, a design that was architecturally distinctive but practically inconvenient: accessing recreational facilities required navigating through the commercial podium, a layout that worked less well as Peace Centre’s commercial tenants changed character over the decades.
“The pool and covered parking were more than adequate for an ageing block in D9. What Peace Mansion could never fix was the podium beneath it. Living above a slowly declining shopping mall and a row of KTV lounges was an environment that required a specific kind of tolerance — or a sufficiently high floor to be insulated from it.”
— Perspective on Peace Mansion’s residential environment from EdgeProp Singapore community discussion threads
The relationship between Peace Mansion’s residential component and Peace Centre’s commercial tenants was the central lived-experience challenge throughout the 2000s and 2010s. As Peace Centre declined relative to newer malls, its commercial units were increasingly occupied by KTV lounges and entertainment operators. Residents documented noise from slamming doors and metal gates in early morning hours, and some owners reported that KTV employees had taken up residence in the tower, compounding disturbance issues. Management disputes — including a successful vote-out of the previous management committee over maintenance and cleanliness — were part of the building’s reported history. These were structural issues specific to the mixed-use podium-tower format that no amount of facility upgrading could address without commercial tenancy change.
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 1 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $1,740,000 to $1,740,000, averaging $1,740,000.
Rents range from $2,400 to $10,000 per month across 52 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 2.8%.
Neighbourhood Comparison
The most instructive comparison for Peace Mansion is not other D9 residential condominiums of its era, but rather the comparable mixed-use podium-tower developments that Singapore built in the 1970s: Golden Mile Tower on Beach Road and People’s Park Complex in Chinatown both followed the same development logic — high-rise residential above a commercial podium, on 99-year leasehold land — and both experienced broadly similar trajectories of commercial decline followed by collective sale attempts. The lesson from this cohort is consistent: the podium-tower mixed-use format concentrates locational value in the land while the structural relationship between commercial and residential uses becomes increasingly dysfunctional as tenancy profiles diverge from original design intent. Land value survives; the living experience does not.
Against pure residential D9 comparables: Peck Hay Road boutique freehold apartments, the Somerset corridor’s 999-year stock, and the Orchard Boulevard condominiums all command S$1,800–2,500 psf on the basis of tenure and lifestyle quality that Peace Mansion structurally could not deliver despite its superior locational centrality. The gap between Peace Mansion’s S$628–668 psf and freehold D9 at S$2,000+ psf is not primarily a reflection of neighbourhood quality — few Singapore freehold addresses sit in better-connected or more central locations — but of tenure, building vintage, and the structural mixed-use discount. For the redevelopment era, One Sophia is expected to reintroduce the site to the market at price points reflecting modern tenure and design: early indications suggest new residential units targeting S$2,800–3,200 psf, confirming that the land always held that value while the legacy structure did not.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PEACE MANSION | 99 yrs lease commencing from 1970 | 1976 | 42 | — |
| IRWELL HILL RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2020 | 2021 | 540 | $2,728 |
| RIVER GREEN | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2024 | 2025 | 524 | $3,135 |
| RIVER MODERN | 99 years leasehold | — | — | $3,238 |
| THE AVENIR | Freehold | 2021 | 376 | $3,190 |
| KOPAR AT NEWTON | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2019 | 2021 | 378 | $2,512 |
Lease Decay Analysis
The 99-year lease runs from 1970, meaning approximately 56 years have already been consumed. Roughly 43 years remain.
| Year | Lease remaining | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (now) | ~43 years | CPF restrictions may apply |
| 2029 | ~39 years | Significant financing restrictions for next buyer |
| 2069 | Expiry | Lease reverts to state |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates PEACE MANSION across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“When Bencoolen MRT opened, we could walk to the Downtown Line in four minutes. Six MRT lines within 700 metres — I challenge you to find another residential address in Singapore with that coverage. The location was never the problem at Peace Mansion. It never was.”
— Long-term resident perspective on Peace Mansion’s MRT connectivity via iCompareLoan community discussion
“Living at Peace Mansion in the 1990s was genuinely special. The units were enormous by Singapore standards, you were in the centre of the city, and the commercial podium downstairs had everything — supermarket, clinics, food, shops. The decline happened slowly and then all at once when the KTV crowd moved in. By 2015 it felt like a different building.”
— Former owner-occupier recollection of Peace Mansion’s arc via Remember Singapore community documentation
“We voted out the management committee because of the maintenance issues — leaks, musty smells, cleanliness. It took years of owners organising before we finally had enough votes. The problem was never the residents themselves; it was the commercial tenants downstairs affecting how the whole building operated.”
— Resident account of Peace Mansion management challenges via 99.co building discussion
The recurring theme across Peace Mansion resident accounts is temporal: those who lived there in the 1980s and 1990s describe a genuinely fine central Singapore address with generous units, excellent access, and a functioning commercial podium. Those who remained through the 2010s document a slow deterioration in the commercial component’s character that progressively undermined residential quality of life. The en-bloc outcome — achieved after 14 years and five attempts — was widely described by owners as the correct conclusion, even if the quantum and timing were sources of frustration for those who had held since the development’s earlier, more liveable era.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Prime District 9 address at Sophia & Selegie Roads — geographic centre of Singapore's cultural and civic district
- Six MRT lines within 700m: Downtown Line (Bencoolen 330m, Rochor 490m), Circle Line (Bras Basah 520m), and NSL/NEL/CCL interchange at Dhoby Ghaut (~700m)
- Exceptionally large units — 2,347–2,605 sqft, irreproducibly generous by modern D9 standards
- SOTA (School of the Arts) at 230m — outstanding proximity for arts-education families
- Walking distance to SMU, LASALLE, NAFA — arts and tertiary education cluster
- Swimming pool, 24-hour security, covered car parking included
- Historic S$650M en-bloc closure delivered material windfall to long-hold owners
- National Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Fort Canning Park all within 15 minutes on foot
- Plaza Singapura, Bugis Junction, Orchard Road all reachable without a car
- Architecturally significant 1970s development — part of Singapore's urban heritage cohort alongside Golden Mile Complex and People's Park
- 99-year lease from June 1970 — only ~44 years remaining as of 2026; CPF usage restrictions and compressed mortgage tenure apply
- En-bloc completed 2021; redevelopment as One Sophia underway — this is a historical record, not a live residential address
- Mixed-use podium-tower format caused chronic noise and disturbance issues from KTV tenants in Peace Centre commercial units
- Building completed 1977 — required significant renovation investment to meet contemporary living standards
- Management disputes and maintenance issues (leaks, cleanliness) documented by residents in the 2010s
- Very thin recent transaction data: 6 sales in 2020–2021 at S$576–668 psf (en-bloc-distressed pricing)
- No gymnasium, function room, or modern resort facilities — 1970s facility provision only
- Primary school options (Farrer Park Primary 1.24km, ACS Junior 1.32km) less concentrated than D15/D10 school clusters
- Proximity to Rochor/Little India entertainment belt created noise environment on lower floors
Verdict
Peace Mansion is a study in the compounding of two forces that are difficult to separate in Singapore real estate: locational brilliance and structural adversity. The location — a junction of Selegie and Sophia Roads in District 9, within 700 metres of six MRT lines and a short walk from SMU, SOTA, the National Museum, Plaza Singapura, and Bras Basah Road’s cultural corridor — is objectively one of the finest residential addresses Singapore’s central district has produced. At its peak in the 1980s and early 1990s, living at Peace Mansion meant inhabiting the geographic and cultural centre of the city. Few developments in any district could claim that kind of centrality.
The structural adversities, by 2020, were equally difficult to dismiss. The 99-year lease commenced June 1970, leaving only 44 years of remaining term by 2026 — a tenure profile that triggers CPF usage restrictions, limits mortgage tenure, and progressively compresses the pool of eligible buyers and financiers. The mixed-use podium format, which generated the KTV and noise complaints that defined the building’s later resident experience, was an architectural artefact that could not be remedied without demolishing the commercial component. The building itself, completed in 1977, was in admirable condition for its age but required material renovation investment to meet contemporary living standards. The result was a development that was easier to hold as a rental property than to sell as an owner-occupier proposition.
Compared with the competing D9 and D1 leasehold stock at similar age: Concorde Hotel & Mall and the broader Sophia – Mount Sophia residential pocket — including the landed homes on Adis Road and the more recent boutique freehold apartments along Sophia Road itself — Peace Mansion was priced as a lease-decay play by the time of its final transactions. The S$628–668 psf range for 2020–2021 transactions represented a discount of 65–70% to the S$1,800–2,200 psf that contemporary freehold D9 product commanded, a gap that accurately reflects the combined discount for remaining lease, building vintage, and the mixed-use podium premium. The en-bloc outcome at S$650 million for the combined Peace Centre – Peace Mansion site — translating to approximately S$1,426 psf per plot ratio — ultimately confirmed that the land value far exceeded the value of the structures built upon it.