One-north has quietly become one of the most interesting residential precincts in Singapore. Not because anyone is talking about it — but because the numbers are.
D5 resale prices are up approximately 17% over the past two years. Every previous one-north condo project trades at or above launch PSF. And Hudson Place Residences launched at $2,200+ PSF — the cheapest new launch entry point the precinct has seen.
The question: is one-north a genuine long-term residential play, or just a business park with condos attached?
The Transformation Is Real
One-north started as a JTC business park in 2003. Biopolis (life sciences), Fusionopolis (infocomm), Mediapolis (media) — all workplaces, zero lifestyle. One-North Residences (2009, 405 units, $1,633 PSF) was the only condo for over a decade.
Then the residential pipeline accelerated:
- One-North Eden (2024, 165 units, $2,391 PSF)
- Blossoms by the Park (2027 est., 275 units, $2,473 PSF)
- The Hill @ One-North (2026, 142 units, $2,532 PSF)
- Bloomsbury Residences (2028 est., 358 units, $2,540 PSF)
- Hudson Place (2029 est., 327 units, $2,200+ PSF)
That's a PSF trajectory from $1,633 to $2,540 over 16 years — roughly +2.8% annual appreciation. Steady, not spectacular. But consistently upward.
Why the Tenant Pool Matters
One-north's structural advantage isn't the condos. It's who works there.
Biopolis hosts Pfizer, GSK, Novartis, Roche, AstraZeneca, and A*STAR — roughly 13,000 biomedical professionals. Fusionopolis has the start-up ecosystem (JTC LaunchPad, 50+ incubators) plus INSEAD and ESSEC campuses. Mediapolis houses Mediacorp headquarters and Netflix Asia-Pacific production.
These aren't gig workers. They're high-income expat professionals and Singaporean PMETs who need housing close to their workplace. That captive tenant base supports meaningful rental demand in the precinct.
For buyers, this means: the precinct has a built-in demand floor that doesn't depend on speculative growth or MRT-proximity alone. The jobs anchor the housing demand.
Hudson Place vs Bloomsbury: The D5 Decision
These two are sister projects — same developer consortium (Qingjian, Forsea, Jianan, CYZ/ZACD), same Media Circle location. The differences:
Hudson Place is the value play: $2,200+ PSF vs Bloomsbury's $2,540 PSF. That's 13% cheaper for a project launching one year later. Entry quantum for a 2BR starts around $1.4M vs Bloomsbury's $1.65M+. The 13.7% premium over D5 modern resale is competitive for a brand-new leasehold with full facilities.
Bloomsbury is the "proven" option: ~85% sold as of April 2026, stronger sales velocity, and unblocked views toward Wessex Village and Dover MRT direction.
Both share the same limitation: no confirmed primary school within 1km. The nearest verified primary school (New Town Primary) is ~1,241m from Media Circle — outside the 1km Priority Admission zone. If a primary school within 1km is non-negotiable for your family, look at Elta instead (Pei Tong and Clementi Primary both within 1km).
We scored Hudson Place 7.2 — HOLD. The value positioning is the strongest of any D5 project in our series.
The Honest Weaknesses
One-north isn't for everyone. The precinct can feel like a ghost town on evenings and weekends — it lacks the street-level social energy of Holland Village, Queenstown, or Tiong Bahru. The condos are boutique-sized (142-358 units), which means higher maintenance fees per unit and fewer facilities than a 1,000-unit mega-development.
The AYE expressway runs nearby. Some stacks at Hudson Place and Bloomsbury face the highway — if you're noise-sensitive, check the site plan before committing.
The Bigger D5 Picture
D5 isn't just one-north. Clementi has Elta (D5, 501 units, $2,537 PSF, Score 6.8) with Clementi MRT ~350m and two primary schools within 1km. Queenstown has established condos like Stirling Residences ($2,100–2,300 PSF resale). Each sub-market within D5 serves a different buyer profile:
- One-north → employment-proximity play
- Clementi → family-school play
- Queenstown → mature-estate lifestyle play
Knowing which D5 you're buying into matters more than knowing you're buying D5.
The Bottom Line
One-north's investment thesis is real but narrow: captive high-income tenant pool, steady appreciation trend, and a government master plan that integrates the precinct with surrounding towns over the next decade.
Hudson Place at $2,200+ PSF is the cheapest entry into this thesis. If you believe in one-north's trajectory, the pricing gives you room. If you're sceptical about a business park turning residential, look at Clementi or Queenstown instead — they don't need a transformation narrative to justify their pricing.