The Arc At Draycott
Overview & Key Facts
The Arc at Draycott is a 58-unit freehold condominium on Draycott Drive in District 10, developed by BS Draycott Pte Ltd and completed in 2008. It occupies one of the most coveted micro-addresses in the Core Central Region — a quiet stretch of Draycott Drive flanked by the Tanglin and Orchard corridors — and delivers the prestige of that address in an ultra-boutique package that is rarely seen at this scale in Singapore’s CCR.
At an average transacted PSF of S$2,794 with 15 sales transactions and a median price of S$3,210,000, The Arc at Draycott is not a discount play by any interpretation. It sits at the upper end of its D10 peer group on a price-per-square-foot basis, reflecting the Draycott Drive address premium rather than any operational uplift from scale or facilities. With only 58 units, the development is among the smallest freehold condominiums in the district, and the ownership profile is correspondingly exclusive.
The rental market tells a complementary story: 116 rental transactions confirm that expat and luxury tenant demand for the address is active and sustained. An average monthly rent of S$6,736 (median S$6,900) against the prevailing transaction PSF produces a gross yield of 2.58% — modest by Singapore standards, but structurally consistent with ultra-prime CCR assets where the investment thesis is prestige, capital preservation, and selective capital appreciation rather than income return. Buyers entering The Arc at Draycott should calibrate their expectations accordingly.
Location & Connectivity
Draycott Drive is one of the most prestigious residential addresses in Singapore. It sits within the triangle formed by Orchard Road, Tanglin Road, and Nassim Road — an enclave that houses ambassadors’ residences, landed bungalows, and a selection of boutique high-rises that collectively define the upper tier of D10 CCR living. The street is quiet, tree-lined, and decidedly non-commercial. Residents do not share a pavement with retail or F&B at the ground level; the immediate environment is private, residential, and calibrated for discretion.
Orchard MRT (North-South Line and Thomson-East Coast Line interchange) is 0.55 km from the development — a 7-to-8 minute walk, or a short taxi ride. Orchard Boulevard TEL is 0.70 km away, offering the Thomson-East Coast Line directly. Napier TEL at 0.93 km and Newton NSL/DTL at 0.95 km add further coverage: residents have access to three MRT lines (NSL, TEL, DTL) within 1 kilometre. That transit reach, combined with the Orchard Road proximity, means that despite the enclave quietude, connectivity to the CBD, Marina Bay, and Changi Airport is unambiguous and convenient.
The school cluster is exceptional and deserves specific attention. ISS International School (Preston Campus) is 0.34 km away and ISS International School (Paterson Campus) is 0.38 km — placing two campuses of one of Singapore’s most respected international schools at a short walk from the lobby. St. Anthony’s Primary School is 0.35 km away. Chatsworth International School at 0.61 km, Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) at 0.88 km, Methodist Girls’ School at 0.99 km, and Singapore Chinese Girls’ School (Primary) at 1.00 km round out a school catchment that is genuinely world-class — rare even within D10. For expatriate families and local families with school-age children, this cluster removes one of the primary complications of urban CCR living entirely.
Orchard Road’s retail, F&B, and lifestyle infrastructure is effectively on the doorstep. Ion Orchard, Paragon, and Wheelock Place are reachable without needing a car. The Botanic Gardens is a 15-minute walk west via the Tanglin corridor. The American Club, Tanglin Club, and Singapore Island Country Club are in the same district catchment. This is not merely a “close to Orchard” property in the generic marketing sense — it sits within the residential core of the Orchard-Tanglin enclave, where the lifestyle infrastructure genuinely surrounds the address rather than being accessible from it.
Schools & Education
3 primary schools within the 1 km Priority Phase balloting radius.
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| ISS International School (Preston) | international | Within 1 km |
| St. Anthony's Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| ISS International School (Paterson) | international | Within 1 km |
| Chatsworth International School (Orchard) | international | Within 1 km |
| Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) | primary | Within 1 km |
| Methodist Girls' School | secondary | Within 1 km |
| Singapore Chinese Girls' School (Primary) | primary | Within 1 km |
| Methodist Girls' School (Primary) | primary | ~1.1 km |
Facilities
At 58 units, The Arc at Draycott is an ultra-boutique condominium, and its facilities footprint reflects that scale honestly. The development provides the standard complement for a boutique CCR project of its vintage: a swimming pool, gymnasium, and landscaped common areas. There are no tennis courts, function rooms, clubhouse facilities, sky terraces, or multi-tier recreational infrastructure. This is not an oversight — it is the architectural trade-off inherent in a development of this unit count on a site of this land area and cost.
The facilities limitation matters for buyer categorisation. Residents or tenants who weight a resort-style amenity experience — lap pools, BBQ pavilions, function spaces, concierge services — should look at larger D10 developments such as Leedon Green (638 units), Hyll on Holland (319 units), or D’Leedon (1,703 units), which offer comprehensive facilities packages at their respective PSF tiers. The Arc at Draycott is not competing on amenity breadth; it is competing on address exclusivity, privacy, and the intimacy of an owner community that knows every other owner by name.
On the practical side, a 58-unit MCST is operationally compact. Maintenance decisions are made by a small committee with skin in the game. The property is not lost in the administrative machinery of a 1,000-unit complex where individual units feel anonymous. Communal areas are maintained for fewer users, which typically means lower wear, faster response to maintenance requests, and a more attentive building management environment. For the owner profile that gravitates toward The Arc at Draycott, this calibre of management responsiveness is often worth more than an additional badminton court.
Unit Sizes & Layout
With a median transaction price of S$3,210,000 and 58 units in the development, The Arc at Draycott is configured for spacious, luxury-tier unit sizes rather than the compact investor-grade formats common in smaller boutique condominiums. The 2008 completion date reflects a build era associated with generous floor plates, higher ceiling heights, and a sense of architectural volume that newer high-density developments at comparable PSF have traded away in favour of unit count efficiency. Buyers should inspect units for the spatial experience rather than relying on paper floor area alone.
The PSF trajectory is notable: S$2,421 → S$2,627 → S$2,669 → S$2,555 → S$2,794. The recent recovery from S$2,555 to S$2,794 represents a 9.3% acceleration across the last recorded period and suggests renewed price momentum for this tier of D10 freehold product. The trajectory is not linear — the dip to S$2,555 reflects the sensitivity of a thin-volume development to individual transaction outliers — but the directional trend over the full dataset is upward, and the latest figure is the highest recorded.
Finishings and interiors reflect the 2008 vintage. Kitchens and bathrooms will require assessment against current market expectations, and buyers purchasing for owner-occupation or premium rental positioning should budget for selective renovation. The structural quality and spatial generosity of 2008-era boutique CCR construction is typically sound; the cosmetic layer is what ages most visibly. At S$3.2 million median quantum, buyers are not paying for turn-key modern interiors — they are paying for the address, the title, and the floor area on one of Singapore’s most coveted residential streets.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 BR | 13 | $2,533 | $3,086,068 |
| 4 BR | 2 | $2,759 | $3,950,000 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 15 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $2,398,888 to $4,000,000, averaging $3,201,259 (~$2,794 psf).
Rents range from $4,500 to $10,000 per month across 120 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 2.6%.
Price Appreciation
From 2021 to 2026, the average PSF has appreciated by 15.4% (from $2,421 to $2,794 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
The D10 CCR competitive landscape for The Arc at Draycott consists of two distinct cohorts: new-build leasehold and freehold projects with full resort facilities, and resale freehold boutique developments at varying price points. The Arc at Draycott sits firmly in the second category, and the comparison below reflects that positioning honestly.
Skye at Holland (S$2,945 PSF, 99yr/2024, 666 units) is the sharpest PSF comparison in the peer group — newer, larger, better-facilitated, and on a 99-year lease. At S$151 PSF premium over The Arc at Draycott on a depreciating lease, Skye is targeting buyers who weight contemporary finishes, full amenity stack, and the liquidity of a large-unit-count development over address exclusivity and freehold tenure. The two are complementary rather than interchangeable: Skye is a lifestyle product; The Arc is an address product. Leedon Green (S$2,784 PSF, FH, 638 units) offers the closest combined comparison — freehold tenure at S$10 PSF less, but with 11 times the unit count and a correspondingly larger facilities package. Leedon Green wins on facilities breadth; The Arc at Draycott wins on intimacy, school proximity, and the Draycott Drive address over Holland Road.
Hyll on Holland (S$2,648 PSF, FH, 319 units) represents freehold D10 at a S$146 PSF discount, with a larger unit count and more contemporary build year. For buyers who are mildly facilities-sensitive and not address-specific, Hyll on Holland offers a reasonable alternative. D’Leedon (S$1,855 PSF, 99yr/2010, 1,703 units) is a scale-and-discount play: leasehold, resort facilities, and the lowest entry PSF in the peer group. D’Leedon competes in a different buyer segment entirely — it is the entry-point for CCR exposure rather than a Draycott Drive alternative.
- Skye at Holland: S$2,945 PSF — 99yr/2024, 666 units, Holland Village.
- Leedon Green: S$2,784 PSF — Freehold, 638 units, Holland Road.
- Hyll on Holland: S$2,648 PSF — Freehold, 319 units, Holland Road.
- D’Leedon: S$1,855 PSF — 99yr/2010, 1,703 units, Farrer Road.
- The Arc at Draycott: S$2,794 PSF — Freehold, 58 units, Draycott Drive, 2.58% yield.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE ARC AT DRAYCOTT | Freehold | 2008 | 58 | $2,794 |
| SKYE AT HOLLAND | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2024 | 2025 | 666 | $2,946 |
| LEEDON GREEN | Freehold | 2021 | 638 | $2,785 |
| D'LEEDON | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2010 | 2014 | 1,703 | $1,858 |
| HYLL ON HOLLAND | Freehold | 2021 | 319 | $2,648 |
| FOURTH AVENUE RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2018 | 2021 | 476 | $2,465 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates THE ARC AT DRAYCOTT across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
The Arc at Draycott’s ownership and resident community reflects the address: a combination of high-net-worth local owner-occupiers, expatriate executives on long-tenure corporate packages, and investors who acquired the asset for capital preservation rather than yield optimisation. With only 58 units, the community is small enough that residents typically know one another — the anonymity of a large condominium complex does not apply here.
“We chose Draycott specifically because the children could walk to ISS in under five minutes. The building is quiet, the management is responsive, and we haven’t once felt like a number in a large complex. At this scale, things actually get fixed when you raise them.”
— Owner-occupier expatriate family, via property forum
“I’ve held this unit for nine years. The yield won’t make me rich, but the address does what a freehold CCR asset is supposed to do: it holds its value through cycles and attracts quality tenants who pay on time and maintain the unit well. Two of my tenants have been there more than three years.”
— Investor-landlord, via online forum
The tenant profile skews strongly toward expatriate executives and professionals at senior levels — the monthly quantum of S$6,736 to S$6,900 median is a natural filter that concentrates tenants who are either on corporate relocation packages or have personal income levels that treat this as a lifestyle choice rather than a necessity. School proximity to ISS International and Chatsworth is a specific and durable pull factor for international-school-dependent families, and the repeat-tenancy pattern at this address is consequently above average for the segment.
The 116 rental transactions represent a meaningful volume for a 58-unit development — on average, nearly two transactions per unit across the tracked period — confirming that the building actively participates in the luxury rental market rather than sitting dormant between long-hold owner-occupiers. The community is exclusive without being inaccessible, and the building management environment that a 58-unit MCST generates typically produces better quality-of-life outcomes than the bureaucratic machinery of a 1,000-unit complex at the same price tier.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Freehold title on Draycott Drive — one of the most prestigious residential addresses in Singapore, with enduring capital preservation value
- Ultra-boutique 58-unit scale — intimate ownership community, responsive MCST, and a quality of management rarely found in large developments
- Exceptional school cluster — ISS International (two campuses within 400m), ACS Primary (0.88km), MGS (0.99km), and SCGS Primary (1.00km) all within 1km
- Strong absolute rent — median S$6,900/month and 116 rental transactions confirm active luxury tenant demand at the address
- Orchard MRT 0.55km — three MRT lines (NSL, TEL, DTL) within 1km via Orchard, Orchard Boulevard, and Newton stations
- PSF momentum — S$2,421 to S$2,794 appreciation across five data periods, with the most recent figure the highest recorded
- CCR Orchard/Tanglin enclave — direct access to Ion Orchard, Paragon, Tanglin Club, and the Botanic Gardens corridor
- Freehold tenure eliminates lease decay concerns and preserves CPF usage eligibility and LTV ratios indefinitely
- Quiet, low-density residential street — none of the pavement-level retail or F&B noise that affects more commercial CCR addresses
- 2008 build with generous floor plates — spatial quality characteristic of pre-2010 CCR boutique construction that newer high-density projects have traded away
- Low gross yield at 2.58% — income return is materially below the Singapore market average; this is not an income-first investment
- High absolute quantum — S$3,210,000 median entry requires significant capital outlay and limits buyer and resale pool depth
- Limited facilities — pool and gym only; no tennis courts, function rooms, clubhouse, or resort-tier amenity infrastructure
- Only 15 total sales transactions tracked — thin volume means PSF figures carry wide confidence intervals and exit liquidity is constrained
- Low Profitability score (34/100) — capital velocity and yield metrics confirm this is a slow-money hold, not a near-term returns play
- 2008 build vintage — kitchens and bathrooms will require renovation assessment and likely modernisation budget at this price point
- Low ShiokNest composite score (52/100) — honest reflection of yield and profitability limitations despite the prestigious address
- Boutique MCST risk — 58-unit development concentrated decision-making; a small number of owner-agendas can disproportionately affect management direction
- MRT not doorstep — Orchard at 0.55km is good, not exceptional; non-walking buyers will routinely use private transport or Grab
- No developer brand premium — BS Draycott Pte Ltd is a private SPV without the marketing infrastructure or after-sales support of a major developer brand
Verdict
The Arc at Draycott is a prestige and lifestyle asset, and it should be evaluated on those terms exclusively. The 2.58% gross yield does not make a compelling income case; no investor should acquire this development with annual rental return as the primary decision driver. What the development does offer is something increasingly rare in Singapore’s CCR: freehold title on Draycott Drive in a 58-unit boutique building, with a school cluster that is genuinely world-class and an Orchard MRT address within 550 metres.
The scores reflect the asset’s character accurately. Neighbourhood 9.0/10 is deserved — Draycott Drive is one of the top-five residential addresses in the Republic, and that does not depreciate. Lease 10.0/10 for freehold in a CCR context is a non-negotiable structural advantage. MRT 7.5/10 is honest: Orchard at 0.55 km is genuinely good, not doorstep. Facilities 5.5/10 acknowledges the boutique limitation without penalising it unfairly for what it never claimed to be. Value 6.5/10 reflects the fact that S$2,794 PSF is competitive within its peer group but not a discount — buyers are paying market rate for the address.
The low Profitability score (34/100) and modest ShiokNest score (52/100) are honest outputs of the yield and capital velocity analysis. This is a slow-money asset: it appreciates over long periods, anchored by address permanence and supply scarcity, rather than delivering rapid capital turns or strong annual income. Buyers who understand that this is a 10-to-20-year freehold CCR hold on a prestigious street — not a 5-year flip or an income instrument — will find the proposition coherent. Buyers seeking near-term yield compression plays or high-turn capital recycling should look elsewhere in the D10 peer group.
Against Skye at Holland (S$2,945 PSF, 99yr/2024, 666 units) and Hyll on Holland (S$2,648 PSF, FH, 319 units), The Arc at Draycott occupies an interesting position: older build and fewer facilities, but a more prestigious micro-address and a significantly smaller ownership community. Buyers choosing between these assets are ultimately choosing between new-build contemporary scale and a genuinely exclusive boutique on one of Singapore’s most storied residential streets.