19 Nassim is a 99-year luxury condo project that was designed by Chan Soo Khian, the founding principal and design director of SCDA Architects. . (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Four years after its initial sales launch in 2020, luxury development 19 Nassim seems to have finally found its footing in the luxury private residential market. Its developer, Keppel, is capitalising on the condo’s completion last November to market seven furnished units, positioning them as appealing alternatives for buyers who want to skip lengthy renovations.
According to Samuel Ng, president (Singapore), real estate division, at Keppel, the developer is confident that 19 Nassim is “reasonably priced within the Nassim district”; and since its completion, it has been able to offer the added advantage of immediate occupation. It is pricing unfurnished units from $3,300 psf. “For the fully furnished units, the pricing will include the cost of furnishings, and may vary depending on the specific unit,” says Ng.
The 101-unit, 99-year leasehold luxury condo is 20% sold to date.
19 Nassim certainly complements the exclusive Nassim residential neighbourhood where it is located. The project was designed by Chan Soo Khian, the founding principal and design director of SCDA Architects. The architecture is an homage to the nearby colonial-era black-and-white bungalows and takes cues from their generously sized windows and expansive balconies.
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The minimalist architectural approach at 19 Nassim blurs the distinction between indoor and outdoor spaces. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
All 101 units of 19 Nassim are in a 10-storey residential block, with a mix of one- to three-bedroom unit types that range from 538 to 1,830 sq ft. So far, Keppel has fitted out and furnished seven unsold units at 19 Nassim to help drum up sales, and in response to feedback from customers. “We are committed to provide a diverse selection of fully-furnished, partially-furnished and unfurnished units to cater to our buyers’ varied needs,” says Ng.
One of the furnished units is a two-bedder that comes with a private lift. The interior designer for the 1,109 sq ft unit was Index Design. This unit features a contemporary aesthetic with a light- tone colour palette. The price for this particular furnished two-bedder is estimated at about $3.84 million.
Typical two-bedroom units range from 807 to 1,119 sq ft, while two-bedroom-plus-study units are 1,055 sq ft, but there are also only eight of these unit variants available.
All units at 19 Nassim come fitted with kitchen appliances from luxury brand V-Zug, as well as Dornbracht bathroom fittings, and Villeroy & Boch bathware. The sense of luxury is also enhanced by the relatively high 3m ceiling height across most units, except the ground-floor and ninth-floor units which feature an elevated 4.5m ceiling in the living room.
This furnished two-bedroom unit, featuring a contemporary aesthetic by Index Design, comes with a private lift. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Another furnished unit is a 1,475 sq ft three-bedder that has been designed by Evocateurs Design. All three-bedders at 19 Nassim feature a private lift lobby. The balcony of this three-bedroom unit boasts views of the scenery towards Nassim Hill. With the condo now completed, it is easy to appreciate its perch along Nassim Hill and the vistas offered to most of the units facing Napier Road. Despite 19 Nassim’s proximity to sensitive sites in the area, such as the Interpol Innovation Centre on Napier Road, and the nearby British High Commission, US Embassy and Australian High Commission along Napier Road, none of these views have been blocked.
The en suite master bedroom of the three-bedder is the only unit type that features a walk-through wardrobe that leads to the en suite bathroom, which also features a bathtub. The master bedroom also features a doorway to the kitchen and service area, which connects to the back door and common lobby. This particular three-bedroom unit, with all its furnishings, is estimated to cost from $5.4 million.
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The furnished three-bedroom unit boasts an expansive balcony and views of Nassim Hill. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Moreover, the kitchen of the three-bedroom units comes with a standalone V-Zug fridge, while the smaller-sized units are provided with an integrated fridge. The one-bedroom units come only with marble flooring, unlike the larger two- and three-bedroom units which feature timber flooring in the bedrooms.
Ng says that about half of the units sold so far are three-bedroom units, and the two- and three-bedroom units have garnered greater popularity among prospective buyers.
According to Ng, Keppel is confident that its luxury project will be fully sold within the next two years. He adds that the developer is not affected by additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD), since 19 Nassim is a redevelopment of the former Nassim Woods in which Keppel had owned a majority stake prior to the introduction of the five-year ABSD regime.
“19 Nassim also offers a range of unit options for buyers, including fully furnished, partially furnished, and unfurnished units that provide flexibility to meet our buyers’ varied needs,” says Ng.
This flexibility and the lure of immediate occupation might be what 19 Nassim needs to restart its sales momentum. Back in 2020, when it was gearing up for its launch, the government was rolling out a series of “circuit breaker” measures to stem the growing tide of Covid-19 cases in Singapore.
The view of Nassim Road and Ardmore Park from the 10th-floor swimming pool. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
This had the immediate effect of dampening buyer sentiment across the entire residential market, with developers’ sales falling to their lowest monthly sales closing in five years after only moving 660 units in March 2020, a 34.7% y-o-y decline. Other new launches that were also affected during this period were the 378-unit Kopar at Newton, as well as two boutique projects, 77 @ East Coast and Tedge.
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However, sales momentum at Kopar at Newton has picked up in the intervening years, and the project is nearly fully sold with 98% of units snapped up. Meanwhile, 77 @ East Coast was fully sold in June 2022, while Tedge sold its last unit in March 2022.
At 19 Nassim, sales have continued but at a more moderate pace, and prices have climbed in tandem with buying interest. Last February, the project hit a new psf-price high when a 1,410 sq ft, three-bedroom unit was sold by the developer for $5.51 million ($3,906 psf). This beat the previous psf-price high that was recorded the month before, when a 538 sq ft, one-bedroom unit was sold by the developer for $2.09 million ($3,876 psf).
“We are confident that buyers will appreciate the key features of 19 Nassim, particularly its prestigious Nassim address in prime District 10, and the choice of units we are offering,” says Ng. “Now that the project is completed, buyers can experience the architectural excellence designed by SCDA, as well as see for themselves our proximity to Orchard Road, Napier MRT Station, and to iconic areas like Dempsey Hill and the Singapore Botanic Gardens.”
For now, 19 Nassim is the only new luxury project in the Nassim area with units available for sale.
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