Tanqueelan Suites
Overview & Key Facts
Tanqueelan Suites occupies one of the most historically resonant addresses in Singapore’s city core: 9 Tan Quee Lan Street, a short 999-year leasehold dated from 1827 — the year the Jackson Plan resettlement was formalising land grants across Singapore Town. With approximately 801 years remaining, the tenure is functionally indistinguishable from freehold for any conceivable investment horizon. The street itself was named after Tan Quee Lan, a Hokkien merchant and landowner who died in 1904, and retains the quaint two-storey and three-storey shophouse streetscape that defines the Bugis – Beach Road corridor.
The development is a WOHA-designed conservation mixed-use building completed in December 2005 — one of Singapore’s most celebrated architecture practices responsible for projects such as Parkroyal on Pickering and Oasia Hotel Downtown. The concept reconciles a preserved conservation shophouse front facade with a contemporary lightweight steel rear structure, separated by a series of interior courtyards. The front block holds 4 retail units, 6 office units, and 6 loft apartments across the first and second floors; the rear contemporary metal box contains the remaining 14 residential apartments on floors 3 through 6. Total residential count: 20 units, making Tanqueelan Suites a genuine urban boutique at one of Singapore’s most irreplaceable city-core addresses.
The neighbourhood context has only strengthened since completion. The Bras Basah.Bugis precinct — Singapore’s designated arts and heritage district — clusters directly around Tan Quee Lan Street: the School of the Arts (SOTA) at 490 metres, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) at 500 metres, Singapore Management University (SMU) at 790 metres, and LASALLE College of the Arts at 1.03 km. For residents working in, studying, or drawn to Singapore’s creative and academic ecosystem, the walk to work or studio is genuinely possible on foot.
Location & Connectivity
Tan Quee Lan Street sits in a pocket of District 7 that property professionals have long described as the “city fringe sweet spot” — CBD-adjacent without CBD pricing, heritage-rich without the tourist saturation of Chinatown or Little India, and anchored by the arts and education institutions of the Bras Basah.Bugis precinct rather than by commercial office towers. The street runs one block south from Rochor Road toward Beach Road, placing residents within a 5-minute walk of Bugis Junction, Bugis+, and the full F&B depth of Arab Street and Haji Lane. The Civic District — Supreme Court, National Gallery, the Padang — is less than 15 minutes on foot.
Rail access is exceptional by Singapore standards. Bugis MRT (East-West Line / Downtown Line) is approximately 300 metres away — a genuine 4-minute walk from the front door. Bugis (DT14/EW12) is an interchange station giving direct coverage to both the EW (Changi Airport, Jurong East) and DT lines (Rochor, Promenade, Bayfront). Esplanade MRT (Circle Line) is 530 metres away, and Bras Basah MRT (Circle Line) is 680 metres away. Three MRT stations on two lines within a 700-metre radius is a connectivity profile found at very few residential addresses in Singapore outside the Orchard and Marina Bay cores.
Day-to-day retail and F&B needs are comprehensively served within a 10-minute walk. Bugis Junction, Bugis+, and the Beach Road hawker landscape cover grocery, food court, cinema, and department store. The Arab Street – Haji Lane corridor directly north adds independent cafes, boutique retail, and some of the most photogenic street-level F&B in the city. Farther north, Funan (via North Bridge Road) provides a tech-oriented lifestyle mall. For residents with cars, the PIE and Central Expressway access points are under 10 minutes; the CBD is 5 minutes in off-peak traffic. The location trades only a 10–15 minute rail commute against equivalent addresses in Orchard or Marina Bay — at a fraction of the psf.
Schools & Education
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| School of the Arts | jc | Within 1 km |
| Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts | tertiary | Within 1 km |
| Singapore Management University | tertiary | Within 1 km |
| LASALLE College of the Arts | tertiary | ~1.0 km |
| St. Andrew's Junior School | primary | ~1.0 km |
| St. Andrew's Secondary School | secondary | ~1.1 km |
| St. Andrew's Junior College | jc | ~1.1 km |
| Farrer Park Primary School | primary | ~1.7 km |
Facilities
Tanqueelan Suites is a conservation residential building, not a resort condominium. Facilities are deliberately minimal: a private courtyard, modern lifts, a car park, and a security guard. There is no swimming pool, gymnasium, clubhouse, BBQ pavilion, or tennis court. With only 20 residential households across a 3,211 sqm mixed-use block, the economics of providing and maintaining resort-grade amenities simply do not stack up — nor do they need to. The courtyard, positioned between the heritage front block and the contemporary rear structure, functions as the development’s breathing space: natural ventilation, filtered daylight, and visual separation from the street.
“The building is the facility. WOHA designed the entire structure around natural ventilation and light — the perforated metal panels on the rear block open and close to manage airflow and privacy simultaneously. Residents who understand conservation architecture treat the courtyard and the building itself as the amenity, not as a deficiency.”
— Architectural commentary on WOHA’s Tan Quee Lan Suites via WOHA Architects project page
For residents who need a pool, gym, or guarded compound for young children, Tanqueelan Suites is a direct mismatch — the absence of these facilities is structural, not a gap that will be filled by a future MCST decision. The practical upside is low monthly maintenance contributions — typically S$150–300 for a 20-unit mixed-use conservation block versus S$400–700+ at facility-heavy condominiums — and an operational simplicity that suits the typical Tanqueelan buyer: a professional couple, investor, or academic who uses the neighbourhood as their amenity layer and the building as an architecturally distinguished address.
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 1 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $1,350,000 to $1,350,000, averaging $1,350,000.
Rents range from $2,900 to $7,500 per month across 51 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 3.8%.
Neighbourhood Comparison
The primary psf comparators for Tanqueelan Suites are the D7 new-launch leasehold cohort: Midtown Modern at S$2,837 psf (99yr, GuocoLand), The M at S$2,755 psf (99yr, Wing Tai), Duo Residences at S$2,203 psf (99yr, M+S), and Midtown Bay at S$3,220 psf (99yr, GuocoLand). Tanqueelan Suites’ single resale data point at S$1,792 psf sits 37% below Midtown Modern and 35% below The M — for a development on a functionally freehold 999-year tenure versus leases that begin depreciating immediately. The psf gap is the price of modernity, resort facilities, and brand-new finishes. Buyers who can fund a renovation to bring a conservation unit to contemporary standard — typically S$80,000–120,000 for a 750–850 sqft unit — capture the arbitrage. The gross yield of 3.82% at Tanqueelan Suites also compares favourably with the 2.5–3.2% typically achievable at Midtown Modern and The M at their respective psf levels.
Within the immediate conservation and boutique segment on Tan Quee Lan Street, the closest comparator is Heritage Place at 21 Tan Quee Lan Street — a 21-unit 999-year boutique also in the conservation mould, completed 1999, with the same street address advantage and comparable MRT distance. Tanqueelan Suites differentiates on architectural quality (WOHA vs standard conservation refurbishment), the specific WOHA courtyard-and-perforated-panel design, and the mixed-use ground-floor retail and office activation that animates the street-level presence. For investors comparing both, Tanqueelan Suites’ 51-transaction rental depth is also considerably more statistically meaningful than most micro-boutique peers in the corridor.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TANQUEELAN SUITES | 999 yrs lease commencing from 1827 | — | 20 | — |
| MIDTOWN MODERN | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2019 | 2021 | 558 | $2,837 |
| THE M | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2019 | 2021 | 522 | $2,755 |
| DUO RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2011 | 2017 | 660 | $2,203 |
| CONCOURSE SKYLINE | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2008 | 2014 | 360 | $1,961 |
| MIDTOWN BAY | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 219 | $3,220 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates TANQUEELAN SUITES across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“I teach at SMU and walk to campus in eight minutes. The building is genuinely quiet despite being two streets from Bugis Junction — the conservation block absorbs the street noise and the courtyard does the rest. I’ve lived here three years and have no intention of moving. There is no comparable address in Singapore for what I do.”
— Academic tenant at Tanqueelan Suites via PropertyGuru rental discussion
“The WOHA design is not a gimmick. The perforated panels on the rear block actually work — our unit stays cool without the air-con running constantly, and the light quality in the afternoon is unlike anything in a glass-tower condo. For the rent, this is extraordinary value given the MRT distance and the neighbourhood.”
— Resident review of unit experience at Tanqueelan Suites via Stacked Homes community discussion
“Three MRT stations within a ten-minute walk. Bugis, Esplanade, Bras Basah. I have not used a taxi from home in two years. The location makes the lack of facilities irrelevant — the entire Bras Basah precinct is my garden, gym, and social space.”
— Owner-occupier perspective on Tanqueelan Suites connectivity via EdgeProp forum thread
Strengths & Weaknesses
- 999-year lease from 1827 — ~801 years remaining, functionally freehold with zero lease decay risk
- Bugis MRT (EW/DT interchange) at 300m — 4-minute walk to a dual-line interchange station
- Three MRT stations within 680m (Bugis EW/DT, Esplanade CC, Bras Basah CC) — tri-line coverage
- WOHA-designed conservation architecture — one of Singapore's most respected architecture practices
- Bras Basah.Bugis arts district address — SOTA (490m), NAFA (500m), SMU (790m), LASALLE (1.03km)
- Gross yield 3.82% — materially above 2.5–3.2% achievable at D7 leasehold peers at higher PSF
- Meaningful PSF discount vs leasehold peers: 37% below Midtown Modern, 35% below The M
- Conservation building with WOHA courtyard design — natural ventilation, high ceilings, heritage character
- Stable academic and creative professional rental tenant base from SOTA/NAFA/SMU cluster
- Bugis Junction, Bugis+ and full Arab Street / Haji Lane F&B corridor within 5-minute walk
- Low maintenance fees — 20-unit mixed-use block, no pool or gym to fund
- Heritage award-winning development — conservation pedigree recognised by URA
- No resort facilities — no pool, gym, clubhouse, or landscaped recreational grounds; only a private courtyard
- Only 1 resale caveat on record at S$1,792 psf — extremely thin price-discovery data for buyers
- Renovation required: S$80,000–120,000 to bring conservation-era interiors to contemporary market standard
- Mixed-use building — retail and office units on lower floors bring commercial foot traffic to the front block
- Conservation constraints may limit unit alteration approvals — major structural changes are restricted by URA conservation guidelines
- Ground-floor commercial activity (restaurants, offices) can generate noise during business hours
- Micro-boutique at 20 residential units — infrequent turnover means very limited buying opportunities
- No school catchment advantage for primary education — Stamford Primary (620m) is the closest MOE primary
- En-bloc score 44/100 — below average; mixed-use conservation designation and small site complicate en-bloc prospects
Verdict
Tanqueelan Suites makes an exceptionally coherent case for a specific type of buyer: one who prioritises architectural distinction, genuine urban proximity, functionally freehold tenure, and a city-core rental yield above 3.8% — and who does not need a resort pool, a guard post, or a school catchment address. On those four counts, it is a near-ideal product. The neighbourhood score of 9.5/10 is not editorial generosity — Bugis MRT at 300 metres, Esplanade and Bras Basah MRT within 680 metres, Bugis Junction at a 4-minute walk, and the entire Bras Basah.Bugis arts and education precinct as the immediate context collectively represent one of the most complete urban-living propositions available at D7 pricing. The MRT access score of 9.5/10 reflects a tri-station proximity that almost no residential address outside the Marina Bay and Orchard cores can match.
The lease score of 9.5/10 is grounded in the 1827 land grant: with 801 years remaining on a 999-year tenure, this building faces zero lease decay within any realistic investment horizon. By comparison, a new 99-year leasehold project like Midtown Modern (S$2,837 psf) or The M (S$2,755 psf) begins depreciating from day one. The gross yield of 3.82% compounds this advantage: at S$1,792 psf versus Midtown Modern’s S$2,837 psf, Tanqueelan Suites offers a 37% entry-price discount for a comparable D7 city-core address with superior tenure security and comparable — if not superior — location fundamentals. The ShiokNest composite score of 61/100 reflects the honest trade-off: excellent fundamentals tempered by the absence of facilities (4.5/10) and below-market layout score (7.0/10) for a conservation block where unit configurations are architecturally constrained.
The ideal buyer is narrow but structurally well-defined: a professional or investor who wants a WOHA-designed heritage address in Singapore’s arts district, near-freehold security at a meaningful psf discount to leasehold neighbours, and a rental yield above 3.8% from a stable academic and creative tenant base. For that buyer — particularly one with a connection to the SOTA, NAFA, SMU, or Bras Basah cultural ecosystem — there is simply no equivalent product in Singapore. No other residential address within 500 metres of Bugis MRT interchange carries a 1827-vintage 999-year lease, a WOHA conservation pedigree, and a sub-S$2,000 psf entry point simultaneously.