Went down for the H2O preview on 4th March evening. A huge turnout and avalanche of shoes and slippers outside the showflat.
The showflat only has the 3 bedroom (1130sqft) and the 4 bedroom (1389sqft) on display. No 2 bedder was featured....probably CDL was worried over the relatively small size of the 2 bedders which may turn off prospective buyers. At only 743sqft to 883sqft for 2 and 2+1 unit type, buyers who bought will most likely be looking at rental investment and exclusive usage of the numerous facilities being proposed by CDL, rather than own stay.
Good points on this project:
(1) Just next to Layar LRT Station. (Please also see "Not so good Point"-not near to main MRT).
(2) A lot of people kept mentioning that it is in a remote location. This is not true especially for those very familiar with the North East District. Access to the SLE, CTE, TPE and KPE are good.
(3) Amenities such as NTUC Fairprice and Foodcourt are within walking distance. I estimated less than 500m. (No point to actually travel another LRT station down). Also near to Jalan Kayu! Besides Roti Prata, there are various nice eateries and even a shop famed for selling durian and choclate cakes there. Selegie beacurd too.....
(4) There is definitely rental potential-AMK Industrial Parks and the Seletar Aerospace Park.
(5) Quite like the floor storage patented by CDL in one of the room. This was the
only part that impressed my wife who went along to view the showflat.
(6) 540 underground parking lots relative to 521 units. Adequate parking which reduces potential conflicts.
(7) Superb landscaping and facilities on offer by CDL. Lovely! The whistling pavilions and Nature Terrace concepts are awesome. Another interesting point is that all the facilities and stacks actually started on the "2nd level". From the end of the secondary club house and lap pool, one is able to overlook the park connector and Punggol reservoir.....very well though out by the development team.
Not so good points:
(A) It is not next to the main MRT. Residents have to travel to Sengkang MRT and then take LRT. A bit troublesome as you have to dismount and then move on to another platform for the LRT.
(B) The bedrooms (including Master bedroom) are extremely tiny. Buyers beware. In the showflat, there are lots of mirrors, missing walls and even enlarged doorframe to make the unit seems bigger. The 3 bedroom at 1130sqft is definitely not family oriented. For those planning to stay there, you would need to consider at least the 3+1. 4 bedder is the best but then the quantum of the purchase price you need to sink in will be enormous. What ever happens to the adage that condo living is supposed to be an upgrade to quality of life?
(C) The interior finishing given sucks. Tiles pretending to be marble/stone lookalike given by CDL. Built in Wardrobe for the 2 common rooms are not sliding nature albeit the tiny room size (however, the Masterbedroom Wardrobe given are sliding and cleverly design). For 900psf pricing and taken into consideration of the land purchased price by CDL, it seems to me that buyers are shortchanged.
(D) No bathtub given. Only comes with the 4 bedder and Penthouses.
In summary, despite the exorbitant pricing by CDL, the riverfront living concept is indeed unique and an attractive one given the numerous developments in Sengkang right now (latest one being the announcement of a hospital by 2020.).