TMW Maxwell Review

TMW Maxwell location review

Connectivity and accessibility near TMW Maxwell

Being in the heart of the city centre, TMW Maxwell has convenient access to four MRT lines and it is within a 12-minute walking distance to six MRT stations. Maxwell MRT station is the closest to the development, just a 2-minute walk away.

Amenities near TMW Maxwell

TMW Maxwell is situated close to Maxwell Food Centre, Amoy Street Food Centre and Chinatown Complex Food Centre. The latter also has a wet market for your daily groceries.

In terms of F&B outlets, TMW Maxwell is centrally located within the Tanjong Pagar/Maxwell/Duxton area, which has many notable eateries, cafes and bars. Check out 99.co's video on what to eat and do around Maxwell MRT station:

The development is also within a 5-minute walk to the Ann Siang, Telok Ayer and Chinatown areas, offering an even wider range of F&B outlets.

There are several malls in the vicinity of TMW Maxwell, such as 100AM, Guoco Tower, Far East Square and Chinatown Point. However, as TMW Maxwell already has four storeys of restaurants and shops, we reckon that you won't need to visit these malls that often.

Schools near TMW Maxwell

In terms of schools, Cantonment Primary is within 1km of TMW Maxwell, while CHIJ (Kellock) and River Valley Primary are within 1-2km. However, as the development is mostly targeted at singles and couples, this is a small concern.

All facilities at TMW Maxwell and stack analysis

TMW Maxwell site plan

TMW Maxwell has 20 stacks in a single 20-storey residential block. There's a 4-storey commercial podium with shopping and dining options as well as a 3-storey basement carpark. In total, there will be 11 commercial units comprising restaurants and retail shops.

The main entrance for vehicles is via Tras Street, which is a quieter road compared to major roads nearby, like Maxwell Road and Tanjong Pagar Road. Tras Street is also a one-way street, which is better for traffic flow when you're entering and exiting the development.

There are 184 parking lots and 4 accessible lots, which is a 58% provision for the number of units. Although it is not a 1:1 unit-to-carpark ratio, it's not a huge problem as we foresee that most residents will most likely not be driving. This is due to the smaller unit types, and many residents could be foreign tenants who don't own cars as well. Furthermore, there's easy access to six MRT stations.

All the facilities at TMW Maxwell are spread across different levels, from the 4th floor to the rooftop. Similarly, the residential units are situated from the 4th to 20th storeys.

Unique "Park-on-Park" concept

While most developments have a rooftop park or a garden on just one floor, TMW Maxwell has introduced a unique concept called the Park-on-Park, which features a series of vertically stacked gardens.

The site for TMW Maxwell was under the Design Advisory Panel (DAP), a special panel involving URA, in-house architects and an external panel of architects. So when its developers won the site, they got Formwerkz Architects on board and presented the Park-on-Park concept. Formwerkz is an established firm with a few notable projects, such as Nassim Hill condo and the Clarke Quay rejuvenation.

We love this idea as it's an ingenious way to build green spaces, especially for developments in the city which face space constraints. It also reminds us of other notable developments with vertical gardens like Parkroyal Collection Pickering and Tree House condo.

Some of the facilities on levels 4 to 20 are the courtyard lounge and dining areas, a reading alcove, a wellness deck and several working lounges where you can "work from home". There's also a sky jacuzzi on the 15-16th storeys and a sky bar on the 18-19th storeys.

Artist's impression of TMW Maxwell's infinity sky pool

One highlight of TMW Maxwell is its 25m infinity sky pool on the 20th floor, along with a jacuzzi, aqua seating and sky dining facilities. Residents can enjoy spectacular city views from this floor as well.

Replica of the living room facility at TMW Maxwell's sales gallery

There's also a facility called the "outdoor living room", where residents can sit and enjoy the greenery. This is also an ideal spot to hang out with your guests for a change of environment. You can see a replica of the outdoor living room at TMW's sales gallery.

Public spaces

As part of URA's initiatives to transform the CBD into more mixed-use spaces and revitalise the downtown area, the ground floor of TMW Maxwell will have street activities and pop-up events alongside its F&B and retail outlets. This will revitalise the area as it used to house the Murray Street Food Alley, which was once bustling with hawker stalls back in the 1970s to 1990s.

This will facilitate a better flow of pedestrian traffic from the Ann Siang Hill area to Tras Street and Duxton Hill and make the precinct more vibrant for passers-by.

This initiative also includes an urban outdoor living room with an amphitheatre in the basement called The Commons. As there's lush greenery here, the public will have a tranquil spot to hang out at amidst the bustling city.

TMW Maxwell stack analysis

Views from the stacks

As TMW Maxwell consists of just one residential block, there are only two views you can expect, one from the west-facing stacks and the other from the east-facing stacks.

Potential view of shophouses from the west-facing stacks (Image source: Google Maps)

Stacks facing west will enjoy unblocked views as they face the shophouses in the Duxton area, which have only three storeys at most. As these are conservation shophouses, residents will most likely enjoy these views for many years to come.

The stacks facing east face the Air View building adjacent to TMW Maxwell. While the latter has only five storeys, these stacks will still be blocked by the URA and MND buildings along Maxwell Road, both of which are around 20 storeys.

Afternoon sun analysis

In terms of afternoon sun, the west-facing stacks will be the most affected as they will potentially get direct afternoon sun throughout the year. However, the upside is that the west-facing stacks are the ones with better views.

Review of unit layouts at TMW Maxwell

Unique selling points of TMW Maxwell's units

Around 62% of TMW Maxwell are its Flip/Switch units, while 1-bedders make up around 23% of units and 2-bedders make up around 15% of units. This suggests that TMW Maxwell is targeting singles, couples and potential investors.

There are two showflat units at TMW Maxwell's sales gallery - the Flip/Switch and a 2-bedroom unit.

Flip/Switch concept allows more flexible and versatile spaces

The Flip/Switch units are 474 sqft (44 sqm), which is larger than typical studio units and more like the size of a standard 1-bedder we've seen in other developments.

Flip/Switch literally means to "flip" the furniture in the unit and "switch" it to become another space, depending on residents' needs at different times of the day.

This way, the living spaces are more flexible and versatile, as shown in the graphic above. There are five provisions included in the Flip/Switch concept.

The first provision is the movable walk-in wardrobe. During the day, you can close the wardrobe and pull out a desk so it becomes a workspace.

Once you finish work, you can fold the desk and open up your walk-in wardrobe.

There's also a flip-down ironing board that is integrated with the movable wardrobe. This is a thoughtful provision, as it's compact and helps you save space.

The living room with day sofa

The living room with the Murphy bed

In the living area, you'll find a queen-sized Murphy bed seamlessly integrated with a built-in sofa. Whenever the need arises, you can effortlessly pull down the bed. Otherwise, you can keep it hidden to free up additional space.

The balcony has a flip-down table which you can utilise as a reading corner/workspace or an alfresco dining and drinking area. When it's stowed away, the balcony can be turned into a fitness or yoga corner.

The kitchen has space-saving features as well, such as a pull-out counter which you can use for preparing meals. Cutlery trays in the kitchen cabinets will also be provided.

What's interesting is that buyers can choose between two colour schemes for the kitchen, dark grey or black.

In the showflat, the ID has also installed a flip-down table in the dining area. Although this is ID treatment, it gives buyers an idea of how to utilise the space.

Overall, we love the Flip/Switch concept as you can have more living space in the day when you don't need the bed or wardrobe. When all the furniture is hidden, you have quite a generous space in the living area, making it great for hosting guests. This is ideal for singles and couples who might not always spend time at home but need the flexibility of space.

What's great is that the furniture is provided, so the unit is almost in a move-in condition and buyers don't have to fork out additional costs for major renovations.

In a city like Singapore, where space is limited, we foresee that this will pave the way for future developments in the CBD.

Removable walls in 2-bedroom unit

The 2-bedroom unit at TMW Maxwell is about 786 sqft (73 sqm), which is larger than average for a 2-bed-2-bath configuration. The unit suits couples who want to live in the city and need a larger space. It could also be ideal for small families (with one child) who prefer living close to amenities in the city. However, we feel that this scenario will be less probable.

Master bedroom in the 2-bedroom showflat unit

While it doesn't have a conventional dumbbell layout, it's still suitable for tenants as both bedrooms have access to a bathroom.

One highlight of the 2-bedroom unit is that certain walls are removable, so it's more flexible for buyers to reconfigure their unit. In the showflat, the ID has hacked part of the bedroom walls to create a corridor from the living room through the common bedroom and master bedroom (as shown in the floor plan below). This arrangement is more suited for couples or singles who might want to use the common bedroom as a hobby room or workspace.

2-bedroom floor plan. The blue circles indicate the walls which have been removed in the showflat unit layouts.

You might notice from the floor plan that Bedroom 2 doesn't come with a wardrobe. However, buyers can opt in to have a wardrobe installed at no extra cost.

Like the Flip/Switch, the 2-bedroom unit also has a flip-down ironing board and a pull-out kitchen counter. Buyers can also opt to have the flip-down table in the balcony. While this is only reserved for Flip/Switch units, buyers can opt for the flip-down balcony table at no additional cost for a limited time period.

TMW Maxwell - price analysis and comparison

The indicative price range for 85% of the units at TMW Maxwell is between $1.5 million to $2 million, with estimated psf prices starting from more than S$3,100 psf. Prices of individual units haven't been released.

Average prices of new launches in District 2 and city centre (based on transactions in past 1 year)

District 2 hasn't seen many new launches in recent years, so we'll look at new launches in other city centre districts like 3, 6 and 7. The last project launch in District 2 was One Bernam in May 2021, and it is also the nearest to TMW Maxwell. Before that, Sky Everton launched in June 2019.

In terms of new developments in the city area, the last major launch was Canninghill Piers in November 2021.

TMW Maxwell's indicative starting price of over S$3,100 psf (estimated) is about 17.6% higher than One Bernam's average psf price of S$2,635. However, if you delve deeper into the psf prices for individual units, the average psf price for 1-bedders in One Bernam is S$3,140. Almost 85% of TMW Maxwell's units are studio (Flip/Switch) and 1-bedders, so its indicative prices of over S$3,100 psf make sense.

TMW Maxwell's indicative starting price is also about 18.8% higher than Sky Everton's average psf price of S$2,610 over the past year. However, these are based on three transactions of 3 and 4-bedders. Sky Everton's last transaction for 1 and 2-bedders was in 2020, and their average psf prices were S$2,648 and S$2,566, respectively. There is still a price premium for TMW Maxwell and One Bernam as Sky Everton is a purely residential development in the Spottiswoode Park housing estate, which is further away from amenities in the CBD.

From the table above, several other mixed-use developments are near MRT stations or integrated with MRT stations, like Riviere, Canninghill Piers, Midtown Modern, Midtown Bay, and The M. The average psf prices for these developments are closer to the indicative starting psf price for TMW Maxwell. Let's break the psf prices down into 1- and 2-bedroom units.

Generally, TMW Maxwell's indicative psf prices seem to fare well compared to the average psf prices of 1- and 2-bedroom units in other mixed-use and integrated developments in the city centre. However, it must also be noted that the integrated developments connected to an MRT station like Canninghill Piers, Midtown Modern and Midtown Bay have a higher premium than the mixed-use developments.

Rental prospects of condos near TMW Maxwell

TMW Maxwell is a 2-minute walk from Maxwell MRT and is located in the CBD, so it will be popular with investors. Hence, there will also be strong rental demand for its units. Here's a look at average rental prices and psf prices of condos within 1km of TMW Maxwell.

Based on rental transactions in 2023, the average rental prices are S$4,849 for 1-Bedroom units and S$6,237 for 2-Bedroom units.

In terms of average psf prices of rental transactions in 2023, 1-Bedroom units were rented out for S$7.57 psf and 2-bedroom units were rented out for S$6.68 psf.

Rental statistics of projects near TMW Maxwell in 2023

We looked at the rental statistics of four projects nearest to TMW Maxwell - Skysuites @ Anson, Altez, Icon and Wallich Residence. All of them had a rental yield which is higher than the average of 2-3%. Icon saw the highest rental volume of 153, while Skysuites @ Anson had the highest rental yield for 1- and 2-bedroom units, 5.31% and 4.56%, respectively.

Appreciation value analysis

Revitalisation of the CBD and transformation to a more mixed-use precinct

Based on the URA Masterplan, the downtown area and CBD will have fewer offices and more mixed-use spaces. This is an effort to make Singapore's downtown livelier and more vibrant 24/7. There will be streetscape enhancements to the roads around TMW Maxwell so that the area will be more friendly to pedestrians and cyclists. Both Anson and Cecil neighbourhoods near TMW Maxwell will be urban neighbourhoods with "city arcades" and convenient amenities for residents. Anson will have greener streets fronted by shops, eateries and amenities as well as outdoor and open spaces.

TMW Maxwell is one of the first few projects as part of the CBD transformation. Hence, it will attract buyers who like living in the CBD and downtown areas.

Summary

With the majority of Flip/Switch units at TMW Maxwell, the project is clearly targeted at singles and young couples who like city living. It's also a great opportunity for investors as the development is in the CBD and close to multiple MRT stations.

TMW Maxwell's main highlight is its Flip/Switch units, which come with innovative movable and convertible furniture. These provisions give buyers more flexibility and versatility in their living spaces. The development's unique facilities, like its Park-on-Park concept, is also a unique idea, which allows future residents to enjoy greenery in the city.

With most units priced from S$1.5 million to S$2 million at a starting psf price of over S$3,100 psf, it seems reasonably priced when compared to the average prices of 1- and 2-bedroom units in other new launch developments in the city.

However, TMW Maxwell might not be ideal for buyers who prefer larger units or families. Those who don't like living close to the CBD might also prefer more city-fringe areas for their ideal home.

Find out more about TMW Maxwell on our 99.co project page and get the latest updates.