Quick Answer — Union Square Residences in 30 seconds
- Where: Intersection of Havelock Road and Merchant Road, District 1 — historic former Central Square site at the gateway of the CBD.
- Who: City Developments Limited (CDL).
- What: A mega mixed-use project — 366 residential units (40 storeys) + 134-room co-living (hotel-licensed) + 20-storey Grade-A office + 65 retail / dining outlets.
- Delivered under: URA’s Strategic Development Incentive Scheme, which rewards coherent mixed-use urban regeneration in high-potential central locations.
- Tenure: 99-year leasehold. Target preview and launch through 2026.
The Central Square reboot
Union Square Residences is the residential volume inside Union Square, a CDL-led mixed-use development reshaping the intersection of Havelock Road and Merchant Road at the doorstep of the Singapore River. The site was formerly home to Central Square, a 1990s-era podium-and-tower complex that CDL acquired and pushed through URA’s Strategic Development Incentive (SDI) scheme — a policy channel launched in 2019 that allows developers to materially intensify and re-plan underused centre-city plots in exchange for a coherent urban-design outcome.
The scheme’s output is atypical: a 40-storey residential tower sits above a 20-storey Grade-A office, a newly-built 3-storey co-living block, retained heritage shophouses re-purposed as additional co-living inventory, and a 65-tenant retail and F&B layer focused on the Central Plaza and Grand Stand placemaking areas. Residents share the ground-plane amenity with office tenants and visitors, generating the dense, walkable city-centre energy CDL has engineered before at South Beach and Canninghill Piers.
Project snapshot
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Development | Union Square (overall) / Union Square Residences (residential component) |
| District | District 1 — Raffles Place, Marina, Cecil |
| Developer | City Developments Limited (CDL) |
| Tenure | 99-year leasehold |
| Residential | 366 units in a 40-storey tower (~150 m tall) |
| Office | Union Square Central — 20-storey Grade-A with 1st-storey retail & rooftop restaurant |
| Co-living | 134 rooms across new-build 3-storey + conservation shophouses (hotel-licensed) |
| Retail | 65 retail / F&B outlets |
| Concept architect | AEDAS |
| Residential architect | ADDP Architects |
| Landscape | COEN Design International |
Location — the historic gateway
The site anchors the Havelock Road / Merchant Road / Eu Tong Sen Street triangle, one of the oldest cross-roads in the CBD. Directly opposite are Clarke Quay and the future Canninghill Square retail level. Fort Canning Park is a north-side walking trail; Pearl’s Hill City Park is across the Eu Tong Sen Street overpass; and the Singapore River park-connector takes residents to Raffles Place in under 15 minutes on foot.
Two MRT lines service the site within a five-minute walk: Clarke Quay (NE5) on the North-East Line and Chinatown (NE4 / DT19) on the Downtown Line interchange. That puts Raffles Place two stops away, Orchard three stops (via DT/NS interchange), and Changi Airport on a single-transfer commute via the North-East Line to Dhoby Ghaut.
| Amenity | Distance |
|---|---|
| Clarke Quay MRT (NE5) | ~450 m / 5 min walk |
| Chinatown MRT (NE4 / DT19) | ~400 m |
| Robertson Quay | ~500 m |
| Boat Quay / Raffles Place CBD | ~1 km / 2 MRT stops |
| Fort Canning Park | ~650 m |
| Marina Bay / Marina Bay Sands | ~2 km / 3 stops |
| National Gallery / Civic District museums | ~1.2 km |
| Changi Airport | ~20 km / 20 min drive (ECP) |
Design — AEDAS’s U-shaped tower
Concept architect AEDAS has delivered a U-shaped residential plan that is genuinely unprecedented for a Singapore CBD tower. The form maximises north-facing Fort Canning views and south-facing river views simultaneously, while creating an internal sky-garden courtyard sheltered from the Havelock Road traffic corridor. At ~150 metres the residences sit alongside the tallest buildings on the Singapore River’s stretch and enjoy protected view corridors towards Marina Bay.
The residential lobby connects down through private-residential lifts to the retail podium, but residents do not share lobbies with office tenants — a key mixed-use detail that CDL standardised after South Beach Residences feedback. The 134-room co-living block, hotel-licensed, functions as flexible short-stay inventory for corporate relocation and serviced-apartment demand without occupying residential quota.
Worked example — a mid-floor 2-Bedroom at ~700 sqft
Assuming an indicative launch PSF of S$3,300 (in line with D1 mixed-use comparables), absolute quantum is roughly S$2,310,000. For a Singapore-Citizen first-property buyer:
- BSD: S$75,720
- ABSD: Nil (SC first property)
- 25% downpayment: S$577,500 (5% cash minimum)
- 75% loan at 3.5% p.a. over 30 years: monthly ≈ S$7,781
- Indicative D1 monthly rent 2BR: S$6,800–S$7,400 (gross yield ~3.5%–3.8%)
Why D1 supply matters
District 1 has historically carried the lowest condominium stock of any prime district in Singapore — fewer than 5,500 units across both new and upcoming inventory as of late 2025, versus well over 20,000 in District 15 and over 12,000 in District 9. That structural scarcity is the basis of the Union Square Residences pitch: 366 new units are a large addition relative to existing D1 supply, but still small relative to the rental demand generated by the adjacent Grade-A office density at One Raffles Place, OUE Downtown, Robinson 77 and UIC Building.
Growth rates in the precinct have been meaningful. Between 2010 and 2024, private-residential price growth on transacted caveats was materially above the URA PPI average for the Singapore River micro-market, and the River Valley cluster ran a similar double-digit cumulative outperformance. Most of that growth was led by freehold stock — Union Square Residences is the first leasehold project to compete for this buyer pool at scale.
Developer track record
CDL’s recent D1 / fringe-D1 portfolio is directly relevant: Canninghill Piers (99.63% sold), South Beach Residences (integrated mixed-use with hotel), Newport Residences (launched January 2026). Further back, Irwell Hill Residences (100% sold) and The Myst set the benchmark for post-COVID launch cadence. Union Square’s retail podium also draws on CDL’s retail-asset management expertise at Republic Plaza, City Square Mall and Palais Renaissance.
Key takeaway
Union Square Residences is not a “view condo” or a “school catchment” play — it is a central-plaza, walk-to-CBD mixed-use play. The investor thesis rests on rentability to finance, tech and professional-services tenants who value Clarke Quay / Chinatown / Raffles Place walkability. The owner-occupier thesis is for buyers who already live or work in D1 / D2 and refuse to commute. Price discipline will matter: too close to Canninghill Piers resale and first-weekend take-up slows; too far below and the release schedule will accelerate.
Who Union Square Residences suits
CBD professionals and senior executives who want a same-building walk-to-office commute. The 1-Bedroom and 2-Bedroom formats with Singapore River or Fort Canning views carry the highest rentability.
Corporate relocation buyers — regional HQ postings, family offices, private-bank clients — who value the integrated co-living, hotel and retail offer. CDL’s South Beach experience translates well here.
Yield-focused investors with D1 mandate who want leasehold to compare against freehold D1 stock at a lower quantum per square foot.
Frequently asked questions
Who is developing Union Square Residences?
City Developments Limited (CDL), through a wholly-owned project company.
How many units?
366 residential units in the 40-storey tower, plus 134 co-living rooms in a separate hotel-licensed block.
What is the tenure?
99-year leasehold.
What was on the site before?
Central Square — a 1990s podium-and-tower complex that CDL redeveloped under URA’s Strategic Development Incentive Scheme.
How close is the nearest MRT?
Clarke Quay MRT (NE5) is ~450 m away; Chinatown MRT (NE4 / DT19 interchange) is ~400 m.
What mix of uses is on the site?
Residential (366 units, 40-storey), Grade-A office (Union Square Central, 20-storey), co-living (134 rooms), retail & F&B (65 outlets), plus a Central Plaza and Grand Stand for public events.
Is there a hotel?
The co-living block is hotel-licensed, providing flexible short-stay and serviced inventory.
Are the residences directly above the office?
No — the residential tower and the office tower are separate volumes, with dedicated residential lifts and a separate residential lobby.
What are the nearest primary schools?
River Valley Primary (~1.8 km), Cantonment Primary (~1.5 km), Gan Eng Seng Primary (~2 km).
Why is it called Union Square?
The name signals its uniting role — between old Chinatown and new CBD, between Clarke Quay and the Civic District, and between residential, work, retail and hospitality uses on one site.
Related reading on LovelyHomes
- Integrated developments in Singapore: the 2026 guide
- CCR, RCR, OCR explained (2026)
- Greater Southern Waterfront: Singapore’s 2026 city-transformation guide
- Singapore rental yield guide 2026
- ABSD Singapore 2026 complete guide
- Singapore property market outlook 2026
Authoritative external references
- URA Strategic Development Incentive Scheme — the policy under which the Union Square site was redeveloped.
- URA Private Residential Transactions.
- LTA Train Network Map — Clarke Quay / Chinatown MRT access.
- IRAS — Buyer’s Stamp Duty on residential property.
Disclaimer: Information here is compiled from the developer’s publicly available main brochure and sales kit together with authoritative government data as at publication. Unit sizes, counts, pricing, and completion timelines are subject to change without prior notice. Buyers should verify all data directly with the developer and obtain independent legal, tax and financial advice before committing. LovelyHomes is an independent editorial publication, not a real-estate agency.
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