The Lush
Overview & Key Facts
The Lush is a small, freehold boutique development tucked away on Duku Road in District 15 — the heart of Singapore’s beloved Katong / Marine Parade enclave. Developed by Canary Land Pte Ltd and designed by Index Architects, the project was completed in 2014–2015 and comprises just 37 units across 2 low-rise blocks. Unit sizes span from compact 517 sqft 1-bedders to 2,110 sqft penthouses, making it a genuinely mixed boutique community rather than a single-profile development.
The “lush” naming is not accidental. The development leans heavily on landscaped greenery, a bio-pond, and low-rise massing to create a cocooned, resort-like feel on a compact 2,458 sqm site. EdgeProp buyer records show the resident profile is overwhelmingly local: 80.9% Singaporean, 14.9% Permanent Resident, and 4.3% foreign — a profile that reflects Katong’s status as one of Singapore’s most enduring own-stay heartlands rather than an investor play.
In a district now dominated by newer mega-launches like Grand Dunman (1,008 units) and Tembusu Grand (638 units), The Lush occupies a different position entirely: small scale, freehold tenure, a settled neighbourhood character, and pricing at roughly S$1,898 psf — a 25%–40% discount to the nearby new launch benchmarks. For a specific kind of buyer, that gap is the whole argument.
Location & Connectivity
Duku Road sits in a quiet residential pocket just off Tanjong Katong Road, with Marine Parade Road and East Coast Road both within a short walk. The nearest MRT is the newly opened Marine Parade station on the Thomson-East Coast Line (0.69 km), followed by Marine Terrace (0.97 km) and Eunos on the East-West Line (1.23 km). Pre-TEL opening, the location was firmly car-dependent; the station’s arrival has materially improved transit access for this pocket of Katong.
For drivers, connectivity is one of the area’s strongest suits. The ECP is a 3-minute drive away, putting the CBD within roughly 15 minutes in off-peak traffic. Changi Airport is ~15 minutes east, and Paya Lebar Quarter is about 10 minutes north. This is classic East Coast positioning — not quite central, but with frictionless access to both work poles.
The neighbourhood itself is what keeps owners here for decades. 112 Katong mall is a short walk away, alongside Parkway Parade for bigger-box shopping. The East Coast food scene — Katong laksa, Peranakan cuisine along Joo Chiat, the hawker stalls at Dunman Food Centre — is within a 10-minute radius. East Coast Park and its beachfront jogging track sit just across the ECP via the Siglap connector.
Schools & Education
4 primary schools within the 1 km Priority Phase balloting radius.
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian International School (Tanjong Katong) | international | Within 1 km |
| Tanjong Katong Girls' School | secondary | Within 1 km |
| Broadrick Secondary School | secondary | Within 1 km |
| EtonHouse International School (Broadrick) | international | Within 1 km |
| CHIJ (Katong) Primary | primary | Within 1 km |
| Tao Nan School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Tanjong Katong Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Canossa Catholic Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
Facilities
At 37 units and 2,458 sqm of land, The Lush was never going to compete on facilities breadth — and wisely doesn’t try. Instead, it offers a curated set of amenities sized appropriately for the resident population: a lap pool and spa pool, pool deck, gymnasium and aqua gym, playground, bio pond, and a communal outdoor pavilion. There is no clubhouse, no tennis court, no function room complex. For buyers who value a low-maintenance, un-crowded environment, this is a feature rather than a bug.
“Very nice condo with ample parking space. Well maintained. Good location. Near good schools and restaurants.”
— Resident review via 99.co
The practical implication of the small resident-to-facility ratio is meaningful: the pool is almost always available, the gym is never crowded, and maintenance fees stay reasonable because there is simply less to maintain. Owners report that the bio-pond and the layered landscaping give the compound an outsized sense of greenery relative to its footprint — one of the design moves that justifies the project name.
Car park provision is one-per-unit, which is tight by District 15 standards but adequate. Households with two cars should verify current arrangements during due diligence, as visitor-lot policies on small developments can shift with MCST decisions.
Unit Sizes & Layout
The unit mix spans 1-bedroom (~517 sqft), 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, and penthouse (up to 2,110 sqft) configurations across the two blocks. Layouts lean modern-rectangular with full-height glazing on the living-room face, and most stacks enjoy either pool-facing or landscape-facing outlooks — there is no “bad” stack at this scale. Stacked Homes’ floor plan library is a useful reference for buyers comparing specific stacks.
Reported quantum today ranges broadly from around S$1.5M for compact 1-bedders to ~S$2.6M for larger units, with PSF averaging S$1,898 over the last 12 months. The five-year PSF trajectory — from ~S$1,566 to ~S$1,919 psf — shows ~22% appreciation, tracking the broader District 15 freehold uplift driven by the TEL opening and nearby new-launch benchmarking.
Interior finishings were positioned at the upper-mid tier for the 2014 delivery vintage: marble or engineered-stone counters, timber-look flooring, and branded sanitaryware. At a decade in, many owners have refreshed kitchens and bathrooms — buyers entering today should inspect renovation condition closely, as this single factor can swing entry quantum by S$80k–S$150k.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 BR | 2 | $1,863 | $962,500 |
| 2 BR | 6 | $1,792 | $1,472,167 |
| 3 BR | 1 | $1,476 | $1,875,000 |
| 4 BR | 1 | $1,311 | $2,060,000 |
| 5 BR | 1 | $1,297 | $2,680,000 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 11 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $955,000 to $2,680,000, averaging $1,579,364 (~$1,877 psf).
Rents range from $1,850 to $5,000 per month across 40 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 3.4%.
Price Appreciation
From 2021 to 2026, the average PSF has appreciated by 7.8% (from $1,742 to $1,877 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
The most instructive comparisons are not to other small boutiques but to the new-launch wave reshaping District 15. Grand Dunman (99-year, 1,008 units, ~S$2,537 psf), Emerald of Katong (99-year, 846 units, ~S$2,640 psf), Tembusu Grand (99-year, 638 units, ~S$2,462 psf), and the freehold The Continuum (816 units, ~S$2,790 psf) all sit at meaningful premiums to The Lush’s ~S$1,898 psf. For that premium, buyers get a fresh lease (except The Continuum), a full modern facilities deck, and scale-driven liquidity.
The sharpest head-to-head is arguably against The Continuum, which shares freehold tenure. At ~47% PSF premium, The Continuum offers newer fittings, an MRT-adjacent location (Katong Park TEL), and the liquidity of a large development — but The Lush offers quieter, more established streets and a far smaller quantum for entry. For buyers choosing between them, the decision turns on whether you value “new and large” or “small and settled” — both are defensible in District 15 today.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE LUSH | Freehold | 2015 | 37 | $1,877 |
| GRAND DUNMAN | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2022 | 2023 | 1,008 | $2,537 |
| EMERALD OF KATONG | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2023 | 2024 | 846 | $2,640 |
| THE CONTINUUM | Freehold | 2023 | 816 | $2,790 |
| TEMBUSU GRAND | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2022 | 2023 | 638 | $2,462 |
| AMBER PARK | Freehold | 2021 | 592 | $2,544 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates THE LUSH across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“Very nice condo with ample parking space. Well maintained. Good location. Near good schools and restaurants.”
— Resident review via 99.co
“With only 37 units, residents can enjoy privacy and be shielded from the busy island lifestyle.”
— Editorial summary via PropertyGuru
Sentiment across listing platforms is consistently warm if quiet — a reflection of the development’s size. There are far fewer reviews than you’d find for a 500-unit project, but the signal is unusually consistent: residents stay for the neighbourhood, the privacy, and the everyday feel of a well-run small estate. The most common complaint, where one appears, concerns tight visitor parking — a near-universal small-development issue in the district, not specific to The Lush.
The Singapore Expats directory lists the development with standard amenity coverage, and rental listings across the major portals show steady demand from professionals and young families drawn to the Katong lifestyle and the newly opened Marine Parade MRT.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Freehold tenure in a district increasingly dominated by 99-year new launches
- Meaningful PSF discount (~25–40%) to nearby new launches
- Boutique scale (37 units) — facilities rarely crowded
- Established, walkable Katong / Marine Parade neighbourhood
- Marine Parade MRT (TEL) now at 0.69 km — materially improved transit
- Strong school catchment — Tao Nan, CHIJ Katong, Tanjong Katong primary all nearby
- Low-density, landscaped site with bio-pond and layered greenery
- ~22% PSF appreciation over last 5 years tracking district uplift
- Primarily owner-occupied (80.9% Singaporean) — stable community
- Short drive to ECP, CBD ~15 minutes off-peak
- Only 37 units — thin transaction liquidity, longer hold expected on exit
- No large facilities deck (no tennis, clubhouse, function rooms)
- One-per-unit car park allocation — tight for two-car households
- En-bloc score low (39/100) — no realistic collective-sale story
- 10-year-old finishings — many units need refresh, adds renovation budget
- Gross yield (3.35%) decent but not market-leading
- Investment score moderate (53/100) — capital growth tracks rather than leads
- Competing new launches offer scale and fresh leases at a premium
Verdict
The Lush is a thesis-driven buy, not a default one. The thesis is simple: freehold tenure, boutique scale, a genuinely livable neighbourhood, and a 25%–40% psf discount to nearby new launches buys you something hard to replicate — a quiet, well-mannered home in one of Singapore’s most beloved districts without paying the “new” premium. For own-stay buyers comfortable with a 10-year-old development and ready to spend modestly on refresh, the value equation is genuinely attractive.
The counter-thesis is equally real. Rental yield of 3.35% is decent but not market-leading; the investment score of 53/100 and en-bloc score of 39/100 reflect the fact that 37 freehold units on a small site are neither a liquidity play nor a collective-sale story. Price appreciation will track the district rather than lead it. And buyers who prioritise facilities breadth — tennis, function rooms, kids’ water play — will find this development under-equipped.
The honest framing: The Lush is for buyers who know what they want. If the criteria are freehold, Katong, boutique, and “under S$2M quantum for a 2-bedder,” there is a small but real set of developments that fit, and The Lush sits near the top of that list. If the criteria are scale, facilities, or maximum capital appreciation, the argument is weaker — and nearby new launches will be the more natural destination.