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One Sophia Review

One Sophia Review
Commercial & Mixed-Use Property Review — District 09

One Sophia

A fresh 99-year strata office and retail address on the Orchard fringe, rising on the former Peace Centre site.

SGCPI Research Desk Updated August 2026 1 Sophia Road, Singapore 228149 99-YR LEASEHOLD FROM 6 DEC 2023

Street-level view of the One Sophia site, 1 Sophia Road, Singapore 228149. Imagery: Google Street View (user-contributed imagery), accessed August 2026.

Project Overview

Building NameOne Sophia
Address1 Sophia Road, Singapore 228149
DistrictD09 — Orchard / River Valley
Tenure99 years leasehold from 6 Dec 2023
Zoning / UseMixed-use — Commercial (Office & Retail) + Residential; strata office/retail titles
Built Form13-storey office & retail podium + 2 residential towers of 19 storeys, 3-level basement carpark
Land Area / GFA≈76,617 sq ft site; ≈604,600 sq ft total GFA (office component ≈220,000 sq ft)
Completion YearExpected TOP 31 Dec 2029
Nearest MRTDhoby Ghaut (NS/NE/CC), Bencoolen (DT) — both within a short walk
Key Road AccessCentral Expressway (CTE), Pan Island Expressway (PIE), Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE)
Transacted PSF Range≈S$2,439–S$2,846 psf (indicative launch pricing; pre-TOP, no resale history yet)
Sale Price Range≈S$3.1m–S$12.8m per strata office unit (1,100–4,500 sq ft)
Asking Rent Range≈S$6.50–S$9.00 psf/month (estimated, benchmarked to comparable fringe-Orchard Grade A stock)
Occupier BaseProfessional services, corporate HQs, AI/tech and education-adjacent occupiers drawn to the Civic District

Location & Connectivity

One Sophia sits at 1 Sophia Road, on the site of the former Peace Centre and Peace Mansion, at the seam between the Civic District, Selegie Road and the top of Orchard Road. It is a genuinely rare address for a strata commercial launch: most of the surrounding stock is either heritage shophouse space or large, single-owner Grade A towers, so a fresh strata-titled office and retail podium here fills a real supply gap for smaller occupiers and private investors who want a central location without a whole-floor commitment.

Connectivity is the project’s strongest card. Dhoby Ghaut MRT interchange, serving the North-South, North East and Circle Lines, is within a short walk, alongside Bencoolen MRT on the Downtown Line — giving tenants three-line access to Raffles Place, Marina Bay, one-north and the wider CBD without needing to drive. Drivers benefit from quick links to the CTE, PIE and MCE, which puts Changi Airport, the western business parks and the northern corridor all within a manageable commute. Basement parking within the development further supports client-facing and F&B occupiers.

The immediate surrounds mix civic, cultural and retail amenity: Fort Canning Park and Mount Emily Park provide green respite a few minutes away, while Plaza Singapura, The Cathay and the Orchard Road belt (ION Orchard, Ngee Ann City, Paragon, Wisma Atria) sit within easy walking or one-stop MRT distance. Healthcare is well served by Mount Elizabeth Hospital and Raffles Hospital, and the National Museum, Singapore Art Museum and Peranakan Museum reinforce the Civic District identity that the marketing leans on.

Location of One Sophia. Map data: Google Maps, accessed August 2026.

Building & Facilities

The scheme is being built as an integrated development: a 13-storey office-and-retail podium sits alongside two 19-storey residential blocks (367 units), all rising on a combined basement carpark of roughly 273 lots, including accessible and family-priority bays. The office component comprises 122 strata units, with an integrated retail podium of around 90,000–127,000 sq ft depending on the source consulted, giving office occupiers immediate access to F&B, convenience retail and services at ground and podium level.

Because the project is still under construction, with vacant possession expected by 31 December 2029, prospective buyers are transacting off plan rather than inspecting a completed handover condition. Marketing materials point to landscaped communal gardens at several podium levels, modern lift provisioning sized for a mixed office/residential population, and floor-to-floor heights designed for contemporary M&E and cabling requirements — all standard aspirations for a new-build Grade A-adjacent office, though final specifications should be verified against the latest sale-and-purchase agreement and technical brochure rather than early collateral.

Buyers should treat this as a pre-completion purchase and apply the corresponding due diligence: confirm the licensed housing developer status and Housing Developers’ (Control and Licensing) Act protections, review the payment schedule against construction milestones, and have a conveyancing lawyer check the strata declaration of allocation of common property, sinking fund provisions and any restrictions tied to the office/retail/residential mixed-use structure before signing.

Unit Types & Floor Plan Notes

The strata office component is sized to suit a range of buyer profiles, from solo practitioners and small partnerships through to larger corporate or multi-desk operators who want a self-contained floor. Indicative unit sizes span roughly 1,100 to 4,500 sq ft, with pricing reported from approximately S$2,439 to S$2,846 psf as at mid-2026 marketing collateral. Retail units on the podium levels are separately configured for F&B, personal care and convenience formats.

Compact Office

≈1,100–1,500 sq ft

Entry-level strata office suited to boutique professional practices, consultancies or a satellite team wanting a Civic District address without a full-floor commitment.

Mid-Tier Office

≈1,500–2,500 sq ft

The core of the office stack; workable for firms of roughly 15–30 desks, with enough plate depth for a mix of open-plan and meeting-room layouts.

Large-Format Office

≈2,500–4,500 sq ft

Larger contiguous or combinable units aimed at corporate occupiers, regional HQs or investors seeking to subdivide and lease to multiple tenants.

Podium Retail

Ground & Podium Levels

F&B, convenience and lifestyle retail units serving both the office population above and the surrounding residential and civic catchment.

Storeys: 13-storey office & retail podium, part of a wider mixed-use envelope
Basement Parking: ≈273 lots across the development, including accessible and family lots
Office GFA: ≈220,000 sq ft across 122 strata units
Retail GFA: ≈90,000+ sq ft podium retail
Expected Handover: 31 December 2029 (pre-completion purchase)

Investment Case

One Sophia’s investment thesis rests largely on scarcity of location rather than on an established transaction record, since the project has yet to reach TOP. Buyers are effectively pricing a bet on District 9 fringe-Orchard fundamentals holding through to 2029 and beyond, supported by a fresh 99-year lease and improving financing conditions.

What Works

  • Rare strata-titled entry point into a prime District 9 Civic District location, where new commercial supply is scarce.
  • Triple MRT-line access via Dhoby Ghaut plus Downtown Line coverage via Bencoolen, both within walking distance.
  • Fresh 99-year lease from December 2023 gives long runway before lease-decay financing constraints bite.
  • Integrated retail podium and planned communal gardens support tenant amenity and daytime footfall.
  • Falling benchmark rates (3-month SORA near 1.1% as of mid-2026) improve financing affordability for buyers entering now.

What to Weigh Carefully

  • Still under construction; buyers are purchasing off plan with completion only expected by end-2029.
  • No transacted resale history exists yet, so quoted psf figures are developer asking prices, not confirmed market clearing levels.
  • Strata commercial units generally trade with thinner liquidity than residential stock, which can extend exit timelines.
  • Mixed-use structure (office, retail, residential) means MCST decision-making spans multiple user groups with different priorities.
  • Actual achievable rents and occupier demand will depend on the broader office market absorbing new supply delivered around the same period.

Who This Suits

One Sophia is best suited to owner-occupier professional firms and small-to-mid-sized corporates that value a prestige Civic District address and are comfortable committing during the construction phase rather than buying a completed, income-producing asset immediately. It also suits longer-horizon private investors who can absorb a multi-year wait to TOP and who are looking to diversify out of residential property into commercial strata, taking advantage of a fresh lease term and improving interest-rate backdrop. It is less suited to buyers who need immediate rental income, who are uncomfortable with pre-completion construction and payment-schedule risk, or who require the transaction certainty of an established resale market with a visible pricing history.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is One Sophia zoned for, and what business uses are permitted?
One Sophia is a mixed-use development combining commercial office and retail space with residential towers, all on a single integrated site at 1 Sophia Road. The office component is strata-titled for commercial use, meaning owners can occupy or lease units to professional services firms, corporate offices and similar white-collar occupiers, while podium-level retail units are zoned for shop, F&B and service uses. As with any strata commercial title, specific fit-out and use restrictions are set out in the deed of mutual covenant and any URA-approved use conditions, so buyers intending a particular business type — clinics, education centres, showrooms — should verify permitted use with the developer and their conveyancing lawyer before purchase.
Can foreigners buy strata office or retail units at One Sophia?
Yes. Singapore’s Residential Property Act restricts foreign ownership of landed and certain residential property, but commercial and industrial property — including strata office and retail units like those at One Sophia — generally falls outside those restrictions and can be purchased by foreign individuals and foreign-owned companies without prior government approval. This is one reason strata commercial units in central locations attract regional investor interest. That said, foreign buyers should still confirm financing eligibility with Singapore banks, understand withholding and tax obligations in their home jurisdiction, and note that any residential component in a mixed development remains subject to the usual foreign ownership rules even though the office and retail units are not.
Does Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) apply to a purchase like this?
ABSD in Singapore applies to residential property purchases and does not apply to commercial or industrial property, including strata office and retail units. This means a buyer purchasing an office or retail unit at One Sophia — whether a Singapore citizen, permanent resident, foreign individual or company — is not subject to ABSD on that purchase, regardless of how many other residential properties they already own. This is a key reason commercial strata assets are attractive to investors who have already used up their residential purchasing capacity. Buyers should note that if the same development includes residential units, those units remain fully subject to ABSD under the normal residential rules.
How does Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) affect an exit from One Sophia?
Seller’s Stamp Duty in Singapore applies mainly to residential property sold within a defined holding period and, separately, to industrial property under its own holding-period rules; general commercial property such as strata office and retail units is typically not subject to SSD at all. This gives owners of a unit at One Sophia more flexibility to sell within a shorter holding period without an SSD penalty, compared with residential or industrial owners. However, tax treatment can change with policy updates, and a sale that is deemed a trading transaction rather than a capital transaction may still attract income tax on any gain, so sellers should confirm current rules and their own tax position before committing to a resale timeline.
What Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) should I budget for on a commercial unit here?
Buyer’s Stamp Duty applies to all property purchases in Singapore, including commercial strata units, and is calculated on a tiered percentage of the purchase price or market value, whichever is higher. For a One Sophia office unit priced in the low millions, buyers should budget several percentage points of the purchase price for BSD alone, on top of legal fees, option fees and any financing-related costs. BSD rates are tiered and rise at higher price bands, so larger, higher-quantum units attract a proportionately higher duty. Because this is a pre-completion purchase, BSD is typically payable shortly after exercising the option to purchase, so buyers should factor this into their initial cash outlay planning alongside the progressive payment schedule.
Is GST payable on the purchase of a strata office or retail unit?
Commercial property purchases in Singapore, including strata office and retail units, are generally subject to Goods and Services Tax on the property component, unlike residential property which is GST-exempt. Buyers purchasing directly from a GST-registered developer such as the joint venture behind One Sophia should expect GST to be charged on the purchase price, which materially affects the total cash outlay compared with an equivalent residential purchase. GST-registered corporate buyers may be able to claim input tax credits depending on their intended use of the unit, while individual or non-GST-registered buyers typically cannot. Buyers should confirm the exact GST treatment and any claimable credits with their accountant before finalising financing.
How does the 99-year lease affect financing compared with a shorter remaining lease?
One Sophia’s lease commenced on 6 December 2023, so buyers are acquiring close to a full 99-year term rather than a decayed remaining lease. This matters for financing because Singapore banks apply loan-tenure and loan-to-value restrictions that tighten as remaining lease shortens, particularly once a property’s age plus loan tenure approaches the site’s total lease. A fresh lease like this gives buyers materially more flexibility on loan tenure and, by extension, on monthly repayment structuring, compared with older commercial buildings that may have only 30–50 years remaining. This is one of the more durable financing advantages of buying into a newly re-leased site rather than an ageing strata block.
What rental yield might a One Sophia office unit realistically achieve?
Because the project has not yet reached completion, there is no rental track record to point to, so any yield figure quoted at this stage is an estimate rather than a confirmed outcome. Based on comparable fringe-Orchard Grade A and Grade B office stock, achievable rents might reasonably fall in the region of ≈S$6.50 to S$9.00 per sq ft per month once the building is tenanted and stabilised, which would translate to a gross yield in the low-to-mid single digits against current indicative launch pricing. Actual yield will depend on prevailing office rents in 2029–2030, the pace of tenant take-up in a mixed-use building, and how much new competing office supply has entered the District 9 fringe by then.
How does the building’s age and construction timeline factor into the decision?
One Sophia is a ground-up new build rather than an existing asset, with construction underway on the former Peace Centre site and vacant possession expected by 31 December 2029. This means buyers are not inheriting an ageing building’s maintenance backlog or dated M&E systems, and can expect modern floor plates, lift capacity and cabling provisions designed for current occupier expectations. The trade-off is that buyers must wait several years before the unit can be occupied or leased out, during which they carry progressive payment obligations without any offsetting rental income. This construction-period cash-flow gap is an important planning point for investors modelling their overall holding-period returns.
What are the odds of en-bloc sale or redevelopment for One Sophia?
Given the fresh 99-year lease commencing only in December 2023, One Sophia is not a realistic en-bloc or redevelopment candidate for many decades. Collective sales in Singapore are typically driven by a combination of lease decay, underbuilt plot ratio relative to current zoning, and strong developer appetite for the site — none of which apply meaningfully to a newly constructed, fully built-out mixed-use scheme with a long remaining lease. Owners should therefore not factor en-bloc upside into their investment case; the more realistic path to realising value is through leasing income and eventual resale on the open strata market, rather than a collective sale windfall.
What parking and loading provisions does the development offer?
The development is planned with approximately 273 basement carpark lots shared across its office, retail and residential components, including designated accessible lots and at least one family-priority lot. For a mixed-use scheme of this scale, this provides reasonable but not abundant parking relative to the total number of office and retail units, so office tenants with heavy client-visit traffic should factor in potential peak-period parking constraints. Loading and servicing for the retail podium is typically handled through a dedicated basement loading bay separate from general parking, though exact loading dock capacity and operating hours should be confirmed against the finalised technical specifications once these are released closer to completion.
What maintenance or MCST fees should owners expect?
As a mixed-use strata development, One Sophia will be governed by a Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) covering shared facilities, common property and building services across its office, retail and residential components, with fees apportioned by share value. Owners of office and retail units should expect maintenance fees broadly in line with other new-build Grade A-adjacent mixed developments in central Singapore, though exact quantums will only be confirmed once the developer finalises the share value schedule and budget ahead of TOP. Because the scheme spans multiple use types, prospective buyers should review how costs for shared amenities, security and lift maintenance are allocated between the office, retail and residential pools before committing.
How liquid is the resale market for strata commercial units like this?
Strata office and retail units generally trade less frequently than residential apartments in Singapore, reflecting a smaller pool of eligible buyers, larger transaction quantums, and the absence of ABSD-driven urgency that pushes residential turnover. For a still-under-construction project like One Sophia, there is no resale history at all yet, so liquidity can only be inferred from comparable strata office buildings in District 9 and the surrounding Civic District. Investors should plan for a potentially longer holding period to achieve a favourable exit compared with residential property, and should treat the asset as a medium-to-long-term hold rather than a short-term flip, particularly given the multi-year wait to completion.
What types of businesses are best suited to occupying space at One Sophia?
Given its Civic District address, strong MRT connectivity and proximity to Orchard Road, One Sophia is well suited to professional services firms — legal, accounting, consulting and financial advisory practices — as well as corporate satellite offices, education-adjacent businesses drawn by nearby institutions, and technology or AI-focused firms establishing a Singapore presence. The mix of compact and larger-format units allows both boutique practices and mid-sized corporates to find a fit. Podium retail units suit F&B, personal care and convenience formats that can draw on footfall from the office population above, nearby residents and the broader Civic District visitor base, rather than destination retail requiring very high footfall volumes.

This article is an independent editorial review prepared for general information purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Figures marked with “≈” are estimates based on publicly available marketing collateral and comparable market data as at August 2026, and may not reflect final developer pricing, transacted values or completed specifications. One Sophia is a project under construction with an expected date of vacant possession of 31 December 2029; all details should be independently verified against the official sale and purchase agreement, technical specifications and the latest developer collateral before making any purchase decision. Prospective buyers should seek independent legal, financial and tax advice suited to their own circumstances.

© 2026 SG Commercial Property Insights. All rights reserved.

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