Beach Road: Is This Heritage Hotspot the Place to Call Home?

Road and street names in Singapore tend to have literal roots. For instance, Temple Street is named after Sri Mariamman Temple situated there, whereas Old Airport Road derives its name from its location near the former Kallang Airport. Naturally, this begs the question: where exactly is the ‘beach’ in Beach Road?

The answer lies within its urban transformation.

Map of Beach Road and Singapore’s shoreline in 1954 (Source: OneMap)

Decades later, Beach Road’s evolution is far from complete. Even in the present, new urban projects continue to enhance its unique identity as a downtown junction where modern-day office clusters are juxtaposed against historical conservation areas.

Throughout the course of this ongoing evolution, Beach Road has also been home to numerous cultural and urban landmarks. Over the years, many of them have taken on a new lease of life, either as part of urban rejuvenation efforts or new downtown developments.

Examples include the original buildings of Beach Road Camp (currently preserved as part of the South Beach mixed-use development), as well as the now-defunct Shaw Towers, which itself was built on the site of two former cinemas.

Even more recently, Golden Mile Complex – arguably one of Beach Road’s most iconic developments and formerly ‘Little Thailand’ – was successfully sold en bloc for S$700 million in 2022. This transaction marked the first time a large-scale, conserved strata building was sold in Singapore, while also opening the door for future redevelopment possibilities.

Considering this potential, it’s worth taking a closer look at what Beach Road has to offer –both in the way of its old-world charm, as well as an array of current and upcoming modern developments.

What’s around Beach Road that makes it an ideal live-work-play location?  

In the present day, Beach Road extends across three planning areas: the Downtown Core, Rochor, and Kallang. Threading through Singapore’s commercial city centre and eastern districts, this route enables Beach Road to serve as a gateway to neighbouring locations, while also enhancing liveability within the area.

Road links and public transportation near Beach Road

Heading south from Beach Road’s easternmost junction with Crawford Street, motorists will take only 10 minutes or less to reach the Raffles City cluster.  Alternatively, they can opt for an even quicker drive along Nicoll Highway, which leads onwards into the Central Business District (CBD) via Esplanade Drive and Fullerton Road.

Eastwards, Nicoll Highway also provides a direct route to the Kallang area as well as notable sporting facilities, such as the National Stadium and a number of ActiveSG recreational sports centres. The same can be said for the Singapore Sports School in the future, following its relocation to Kallang as part of the Kallang Alive Master Plan.

Location of Nicoll Highway and Bugis MRT stations relative to Beach Road (Source: Google Maps)

Beyond car travel, Beach Road is also served by Singapore’s extensive MRT network. With both Nicoll Highway and Bugis station located within a 500m radius from the centre of Beach Road, commuters can easily make their way down to prominent stops on the Circle, East-West, and Downtown Lines in 10 minutes or less.

Examples include interchange stations, such as Paya Lebar, Raffles Place, City Hall, and Bayfront, which themselves provide access to other MRT lines.

Dining and retail options at Beach Road 

Amongst Singaporean foodies, dining at Beach Road is often synonymous with Thai cuisine, all thanks to Golden Mile Complex’s former identity as ‘Little Thailand’ with numerous eateries serving up authentic fare.

Since Golden Mile Complex’s closure, a handful of these businesses have found new life in Golden Mile Tower and City Gate mall, which are both within the Beach Road locale, as well as Aperia Mall in neighbouring Kallang.

For Singapore-centric hawker fare, hungry diners in the area can head on down to Beach Road Army Market instead. Known to locals and tourists alike, Beach Road Army Market serves up a medley of local delights (think Fried Hokkien Mee, tze char dishes, and more), while also doubling as a shopping spot for National Servicemen in search of military garb and gear.

Meanwhile, regular shoppers can instead turn their attention towards the aforementioned City Gate mall or the Bugis area. The latter is a 5-minute drive away from Beach Road and boasts a wide range of fashion, dining and entertainment options at Bugis Street, Bugis+, and Bugis Junction.

Heritage enclaves and buildings near Beach Road

Flavourful dining and retail experiences aside, Beach Road, and by extension the larger Kampong Glam heritage subzone, also offers a glimpse into Singapore’s rich history.

Bounded by Ophir Road, Victoria Steet, Jalan Sultan, and Beach Road, Kampong Glam was gazetted as a conservation area as far back as 1989. Originally a coastal village where the namesake Glam tribe lived, Kampong Glam eventually grew into a multi-ethnic commercial hub in the late-1900s.

Kampong Glam (Source: URA Space)

Though no longer a bustling trade centre, Kampong Glam retains much of its historical and cultural significance in the 21^st century. This local heritage is largely reflected by a medley of cafes, restaurants and small businesses operating from conserved shophouses at Haji Lane, Arab Street, Baghdad Street and Bussorah Street, as well as the landmark Sultan Mosque built in the 1800s.

New developments supporting growth

In 2008, fresh attention was brought to Beach Road and the neighbouring Ophir-Rochor Corridor after URA’s announced its then-latest Master Plan. This roadmap envisioned both heritage areas as mixed-use precincts, accompanied by new developments complementing those in the Raffles Place and Marina Bay financial districts.

Additionally, plans to transform the Ophir-Rochor area into a “strategic transport hub” were unveiled – the most notable being the first phase of the Downtown rail line, intended to grant commuters easy access to destinations located within Singapore’s central core.

Since then, these projects at Beach Road and the Ophir-Rochor Corridor have largely taken shape, with South Beach and DUO Residences seeing completion in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The same applies to the Downtown MRT line, which now sees Bugis MRT station serving as a key interchange between city and suburban locations.

Within the broader landscape of District 7, encompassing Beach Road, Rochor and Bugis, recent mixed-use developments with elements catering to the live-work-play concept have also sparked a new wave of transformation.

For instance, Guoco Midtown – which features retail shops, Grade-A offices, and two residential developments (Midtown Modern and Midtown Bay) – has contributed to District 7’s growing appeal. Likewise, the redevelopment of the former Shaw Tower nearby will also inject a fresh stock of premium offices into the area.

Even with these milestones, District 7’s growth story is still unfolding – and its next chapter lies in the transformation of Golden Mile Complex, one of Singapore’s pioneering mixed-use developments.

The Golden Mile Transformation

Located near the fringes of Singapore’s downtown core, between Beach Road and Nicoll Highway, Golden Mile Complex is undoubtedly a local architectural landmark – one with a rich history dating back to the 1970s.

Conceived by Singapura Developments Pte Ltd as a strata-titled residential and commercial project, Golden Mile Complex was completed in 1973 as part of the government’s urban renewal efforts for Singapore’s city centre. This initiative sought to revamp the area, which was once dominated by squatter settlements, into a thriving modern district complementing the CBD.

However, by the 1980s, Golden Mile Complex itself fell into disrepair following Woh Hup’s (Singapura Development’s former parent company) exit from the real estate scene. This gradual degradation eroded the building’s status as a prime development, with many of its original corporate tenants eventually making way for Thai-centric establishments.

Golden Mile Complex’s identity of ‘Little Thailand’ would then persist for over four decades until it was sold en-bloc to the tune of S$700 million in 2022, following its gazettement as a URA conserved building in 2018.

The new owners – a consortium comprising Perennial Holdings, Sino Land, and Far East Organisation – have since pledged to retain Golden Mile Complex’s original façade, including its iconic terraced profile that takes cue from brutalist design.

Moreover, it has been disclosed that the building will be rebranded as ‘The Golden Mile’ following its transformation into a commercial development with brand-new office units, medical suites, and two floors of retail space. Alongside this, a new leasehold condominium named Aurea will also be built, housing 188 units spread across 45 storeys.

What could this transformation mean for District 7 and Beach Road?

Akin to Guoco Midtown’s transformative effect on Bugis, Golden Mile Complex’s revamp is set to usher in a new era of urban growth for Beach Road and District 7 as a whole.

Fresh opportunities for businesses and homebuyers in District 7 

Being the first mixed-use development launched in District 7 since Guoco Midtown in 2021, The Golden Mile and Aurea are expected to draw fresh interest from businesses and homebuyers seeking the rare opportunity to reside within a rejuvenated heritage icon.

Echoing its original intent as a prime mixed-use development in the 1970s, the redeveloped Golden Mile Complex will see it reimagined with 156 office units, bringing its legacy full circle. A new four-storey extension will also be built to house prestigious Crown Offices with panoramic views of the sea and the city.

Cross-section of The Golden Mile (Source: Perennial Holdings, Sino Land, and Far East Organisation)

Bright prospects for price growth in District 7

With modern lifestyles in mind, The Golden Mile could be the next success story in a series of mixed-use developments launched in District 7, benefiting from similar desirable traits like greater retail convenience and proximity to the city centre.

Chart 1: Median price performance ($psf) of mixed-use developments in D7

Source: URA as of 10 Jan 2025, ERA Research and Market Intelligence

Price growth for past mixed-use developments in District 7 has remained positive from 2021 to 2024. Median unit prices (on a dollar per square foot basis) for these developments have increased between 1.4% and 21.8% per annum over the last four years; this surpasses the performance in District 7, where prices have trended downward over the same timeframe.

Moreover, projects recently completed last year, namely Midtown Modern and Midtown Bay, also saw steeper annual growth over the same period than their predecessors, such as DUO Residences and City Gate. Accordingly, this observation could bode well for Aurea’s growth prospects in the future.

A heritage icon, revived.

Finally, it’s worth highlighting that The Golden Mile marks a new milestone in Singapore’s urban rejuvenation efforts. Unlike previous redevelopment projects such as One Pearl Bank and Shaw Tower which were consigned to history, the transformation of Golden Mile Complex stands out as the first instance of a strata-titled conservation building being modernised yet still preserving its past.

The Golden Mile and Aurea (Source: Perennial Holdings, Sino Land, and Far East Organisation)

In other words, this presents a “golden” opportunity to live in a revitalised heritage development at Beach Road – one that embodies the best of modern-day living and Singapore’s storied architectural legacy.

Wish to know more about living at Beach Road or at the revamped Golden Mile Complex? Get in touch with an ERA Trusted Adviser today to learn more

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