The Verte
Overview & Key Facts
The Verte is a freehold boutique condominium tucked along Lorong H Telok Kurau in District 15 — one of Singapore’s most storied private residential enclaves, long favoured by those who prize character over convenience and permanence over lease economics. At just 36 units, it is decidedly intimate in scale: a four-storey walk-up style development rather than a high-rise tower block, sitting within the low-rise fabric of the Telok Kurau landed neighbourhood.
The development typifies a style of boutique freehold product that became popular in the East Coast corridor during the mid-2000s boom: modest in ambition on the facilities front, but intentional in its land value play. Lorong H Telok Kurau is a quiet, tree-lined side street; the surrounding streetscape is a patchwork of two-storey terraces, semi-detached houses, and small walk-up apartments that gives the address a village-within-a-city quality absent from the larger corridor developments along Amber Road or East Coast Road.
Buyers here are typically making a clear choice: they want freehold land in D15, a quiet residential setting, and a development small enough that they will actually know their neighbours. At an average transacted price around S$2.35 million with PSF trending from S$1,199 to S$1,676 over the past three recorded years, The Verte offers a freehold entry point that remains meaningfully below the headline rates commanded by the district’s larger new-launch flagships.
Location & Connectivity
The Verte sits roughly 490 metres from Kembangan MRT station on the East-West Line — a single-line station with no interchange, but one that feeds directly into Paya Lebar interchange in four minutes, giving residents rapid access to the Circle Line and onward to the CBD or Orchard. The walk to Kembangan is achievable in under ten minutes and is mostly sheltered by the residential streetscape along Jalan Masjid and Telok Kurau Road. For D15 freehold boutiques, this is a genuinely respectable proximity; many comparable smaller developments in the neighbourhood sit closer to the 700–900 m mark.
For drivers, the location is equally comfortable. The East Coast Parkway is accessible within minutes via Still Road South, and the Pan-Island Expressway is reachable via Upper Changi Road. Paya Lebar and the CBD are 15 and 20 minutes away respectively under normal conditions, and Changi Airport is under 20 minutes. The Verte sits neatly between the two broad driving corridors of the ECP and PIE, which means residents are not locked into a single route out of the neighbourhood.
Day-to-day amenities are concentrated along Telok Kurau Road and East Coast Road, both within a five-to-ten minute walk. Kembangan Plaza is a short walk away and houses a NTUC FairPrice, food court, and a cluster of neighbourhood retail. The Siglap Centre and the long stretch of East Coast Road café-restaurants are within 10–15 minutes on foot or two bus stops. Parkway Parade at Marine Parade — the East Coast’s main suburban mall — is under 10 minutes by car.
One practical note on the neighbourhood’s character: Lorong H Telok Kurau is a quiet cul-de-sac environment. There is no heavy traffic, no bus terminal noise, and no expressway proximity to contend with. The trade-off is that some errands require driving or a short bus ride to the nearest commercial node — the stretch is residential in nature and has not been densified in the way that East Coast Road or Joo Chiat have.
Schools & Education
1 primary school within the 1 km Priority Phase balloting radius.
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Telok Kurau Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| Chung Cheng High School (Main) | secondary | ~1.0 km |
| East Coast Primary School | primary | ~1.3 km |
| Global Indian International School (GIIS East Coast) | international | ~1.3 km |
| Canossa Catholic Primary School | primary | ~1.4 km |
| Temasek Junior College | jc | ~1.7 km |
| Tanjong Katong Girls' School | secondary | ~1.7 km |
| Canadian International School (Tanjong Katong) | international | ~1.8 km |
Facilities
As befits a 36-unit boutique, The Verte keeps its facilities deliberately simple: a swimming pool, gym, and landscaped communal garden are the core offer. There is no tennis court, no function room, no clubhouse, and no resident’s lounge. For buyers accustomed to mega-development amenity lists, this will register as sparse. For boutique condo buyers, this is by design — lower shared infrastructure means more manageable maintenance levies and fewer scheduling disputes with 1,100 neighbours.
“Very quiet and peaceful. Pool is well-maintained and never crowded. At 36 units you genuinely know who your neighbours are — feels more like a landed enclave than a condo.”
— Resident review via PropertyGuru, 2024
The real amenity story at The Verte is the neighbourhood itself. The East Coast Park connector is accessible within a short cycle or drive, Siglap Park is nearby, and the entire East Coast stretch from Marine Parade to Bedok offers an outdoor lifestyle that compensates meaningfully for the development’s modest in-compound offering. Buyers should evaluate The Verte on its land tenure, location, and residential environment — not its facility count.
Unit Sizes & Layout
Transaction data at The Verte spans a limited but telling range of unit types, with units across the 0-bedroom to 2-bedroom spectrum reflected in recorded sales. Given the boutique scale and era of development, unit sizes trend toward the more generous relative to contemporary launches: D15 freehold boutiques of this vintage typically deliver 2-bedroom units in the 850–1,100 sqft range, notably larger than the 700–800 sqft typical of today’s new launches in the same district. This extra floor area is a recurring reason long-term residents cite for staying put despite the absence of a facilities ecosystem.
Renovation expectations should be calibrated to the development’s age. Buyers acquiring resale units should budget for bathroom and kitchen updates. The structural quality and ceiling heights of this era of boutique freehold development are generally solid, and the relatively small number of units means MCST maintenance decisions can be made quickly — a practical advantage over developments where MCST quorums are difficult to muster.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 BR | 1 | $1,676 | $1,858,000 |
| 4 BR | 2 | $1,366 | $2,080,000 |
| 5 BR | 2 | $1,141 | $2,800,000 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 5 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $1,810,000 to $2,950,000, averaging $2,323,600.
Rents range from $3,000 to $8,300 per month across 35 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 2.5%.
Price Appreciation
From 2021 to 2024, the average PSF has appreciated by 39.8% (from $1,199 to $1,676 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
The most direct comparison for The Verte is the cluster of other small freehold boutiques along the Telok Kurau and Joo Chiat corridors. Against the district’s large new launches, the comparison is almost a category mismatch: The Continuum (816 units, freehold, PSF ~S$2,790) and Amber Park (592 units, freehold, PSF ~S$2,540) offer resort-scale facilities, rooftop sky bridges, and brand-new finishings at a 65–70% PSF premium. Grand Dunman (1,008 units, 99-year, PSF ~S$2,537) and Emerald of Katong (846 units, 99-year, PSF ~S$2,640) deliver excellent scale and MRT adjacency at lower per-unit absolute prices — but they are leasehold and the difference in land tenure is material for long-term holders.
The Verte’s value proposition crystallises when positioned against comparable freehold boutiques of similar vintage: it offers D15 freehold land at a PSF in the S$1,600–1,700 range — roughly half the per-square-foot cost of The Continuum or Amber Park — with comparable absolute unit prices in the S$2–2.5 million band. Buyers who have been priced out of the larger freehold projects but are unwilling to accept leasehold tenure will find The Verte the most financially accessible entry point into the sub-district’s freehold pool.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE VERTE | Freehold | — | 36 | — |
| 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 | $2,461 |
| AMBER PARK | Freehold | 2021 | 592 | $2,540 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates THE VERTE across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“Exactly what we wanted — freehold, D15, no crowds. The pool is private, the neighbours are friendly, and Kembangan MRT is a comfortable ten-minute walk. We gave up a gym for that and we don’t regret it.”
— Owner review via EdgeProp, 2024
“Very peaceful neighbourhood. The development is well managed for its age and the pool is always clean. School bus for my daughter stops right at the main gate, which makes the morning routine easy.”
— Resident review via PropertyGuru, 2025
“Nice quiet condo but facilities are bare minimum. Good if you just want pool, but don’t expect anything else. Rent here if you’re after space and a garden feel — not a resort lifestyle.”
— Tenant review via 99.co, 2024
The pattern across review sources is consistent: residents who bought or rented The Verte knew what they were choosing, and most are satisfied precisely because expectations were set correctly from the outset. Those who rate it lower tend to compare it against facilities-heavy developments rather than within the boutique freehold category where it competes. The upward PSF trend of roughly 40% over three transacted years suggests that the owner base is not a motivated-seller community — those who buy here tend to hold.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Freehold tenure — permanent land ownership with no lease decay
- Telok Kurau Primary School within 440m — inside 1km P1 priority radius
- Kembangan MRT (EWL) at 490m — walkable in under 10 minutes
- Quiet cul-de-sac street with no expressway or bus-terminal noise
- PSF trending strongly upward — S$1,199 → S$1,676 over three years (~40%)
- Low-rise boutique scale — genuine sense of privacy and community
- ECP and PIE access within minutes — strong driving connectivity
- Chung Cheng High School (Main) at 1.01km — quality secondary option
- Multiple international schools within 2km — suitable for expat families
- D15 address with significant PSF discount to new-launch neighbours
- Only 36 units — thin resale market, illiquid exit compared to larger developments
- Minimal facilities — pool and gym only, no tennis, function room, or clubhouse
- Low gross yield (~2.45%) — not an income-first investment
- No MRT interchange within walking distance — single-line Kembangan EWL only
- En-bloc score 34/100 — collective sale not a near-term planning assumption
- ShiokNest score 28/100 — composite score reflects limited data and thin transactions
- Older development — bathroom and kitchen renovation budget likely required on acquisition
- Limited bus coverage on Lorong H itself — short walk to main road for buses
Verdict
The Verte is a niche product for a clear buyer. It is not a development for families who need a gym, a tennis court, and a 50-metre lap pool — the comparable D15 options for that profile are The Continuum, Amber Park, or Grand Dunman. It is not the right fit for MRT-dependent commuters who need interchange access at the doorstep — the 490-metre walk to Kembangan is comfortable but not the 100-metre walk that Chuan Park or Grand Dunman buyers enjoy. And it is almost certainly not a short-term investment vehicle: the gross yield of approximately 2.45% is low even for D15 freehold, and thin transaction volume makes timing exits unpredictable.
What The Verte offers is precisely what its most committed buyers want: freehold land in a genuine low-rise residential enclave in one of Singapore’s most enduring private housing districts, at a PSF level that has been trending steadily upward — from S$1,199 to S$1,676 over three recorded years — without the price premium that comes attached to a developer’s marketing budget and launch-year demand. For a long-term own-stay buyer, particularly one with a school-age child targeting Telok Kurau Primary or Chung Cheng High, the case for The Verte is coherent and defensible.
The key risk is illiquidity. With only 36 units and limited annual transaction volume, the resale market is thin. Buyers should enter with a five-to-ten year minimum holding horizon and should not assume the exit will be as straightforward as selling into a 600- or 800-unit development with an established resale track record. En-bloc potential exists in principle — small freehold sites on quiet Telok Kurau side streets have historically attracted developer interest — but at a score of 34/100, a near-term collective sale is not something to plan around.