A $578 million deal ends 16 quiet years on Thomson Road

A consortium led by Sustained Land has paid $578 million for the former Chequers Hotel site at 8 Thomson Lane and plans a 776-unit condominium on it. That would be the first new private housing launch in this pocket of District 11 since 2010, and the land cost points to a very different price bracket from the last round.

SL Capital (9) Pte Ltd, an investment vehicle linked to Sustained Land, exercised its option to purchase the 203,073 sq ft site on 11 August, The Business Times reported. The seller is Chequers Properties, a company associated with the family of OCBC founder Lee Kong Chian. The deal has an unusual structure: the buyers take a fresh 105-year leasehold interest, while Chequers keeps the underlying freehold title.

The site sits on elevated ground just west of Thomson Road, between Novena and Toa Payoh. It is zoned for hotel use with a plot ratio of 2.1 under the Master Plan, but the seller obtained in-principle approval from URA to redevelop it as residential at a plot ratio of 3.5. Media reports citing the sale’s information memorandum say the consortium plans a project of more than 36 storeys, possibly above 40, and that upper floors could get views towards MacRitchie Reservoir and the city.

The rezoning also means the $578 million headline understates the bill. Converting the site to residential use triggers a land betterment charge, a government levy for the uplift in land value, estimated at around $436 million at the rates in force from March 2026. Add that to the $578 million purchase and the land alone could cost more than $1 billion, or roughly $1,297 psf per plot ratio if the full 10% bonus floor area is secured.

The $578 million price is only part of the bill: converting the site to residential use triggers an estimated $436 million land betterment charge. Sources: title records and the sale’s information memorandum, as reported. Chart: HomeAsset.

The last launch here started with a 1

Three condos define this enclave, and all three launched within four years of each other. Sky@Eleven arrived in January 2007 at an average of $975 psf and was fully taken up within about 30 hours. Cube 8 followed in January 2010 at $1,250 psf, selling 85% of its units on the first weekend. 368 Thomson, the last new project here, launched in July 2010 with 80% of its first 120 units sold at an average of $1,350 psf. Since then: nothing new for 16 years.

The enclave’s launch benchmarks date from 2010. The Orie, one neighbourhood over in Toa Payoh, shows what launch pricing looks like now. Sources: developer launch sales as reported; URA caveats (The Orie). Chart: HomeAsset.

Two numbers show how far the market has moved since. A three-bedroom unit at Cube 8 changed hands in July 2026 at $2,173 psf, based on a caveat lodged. And The Orie at Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, the nearest recent launch benchmark, sold 86% of its 777 units on its January 2025 launch weekend at an average of $2,706 psf. It is now 95.5% sold. A site bought at nearly $1,300 psf per plot ratio, before construction and financing costs, will need to test new price ground for this enclave.

Sustained Land holds 51% of the buying consortium. SL Capital Ventures, the investment vehicle of the developer’s owner Douglas Ong, takes 27%, construction group Kay Lim takes 12%, and an unnamed partner holds the rest. The 776-unit project would be the largest the developer has controlled, ahead of past projects such as 3 Cuscaden, Sky Everton and One Meyer. Its current launch, The Sen at Jalan Jurong Kechil, is over 42% sold at an average of $2,349 psf.

The purchase also lands in a neighbourhood that is being rebuilt around it. The North-South Corridor is targeted for completion in 2029, the future Mount Pleasant station on the Thomson-East Coast Line sits nearby, the 12ha Toa Payoh Integrated Development is due by 2030, and the former Old Police Academy at Mount Pleasant is slated for a new precinct of about 6,000 public homes under the Master Plan.

What this means for you

• Waiting for a District 11 new launch? Land near $1,300 psf per plot ratio before construction means this project will be priced well above anything the enclave has seen. The Orie’s $2,700 psf in next-door Toa Payoh is the nearest yardstick, and this site carries a more central address.
• If you own at Sky@Eleven, Cube 8 or 368 Thomson, a new project next door usually resets the reference price for the area. Cube 8’s July resale at $2,173 psf is the current marker; watch how asks move once the new project’s pricing is public.
• Check the tenure before you compare. The new project will sit on a fresh 105-year lease carved out of a retained freehold, so it is neither freehold like its three neighbours nor a standard 99-year plot. That difference will matter at resale.
• No launch date or project name has been announced, so there is nothing to act on yet. The site still has to clear its change of use and planning approvals; treat any early “VIP preview” marketing you see with caution.