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Zervex Review

Zervex Review
Industrial & Commercial Property Review — District 14

Zervex

A 2011-built strata factory on the Ubi estate, priced for the city fringe and governed by a lease that is now the main variable.

SGCPI Research Desk Updated 24 August 2026 8 Ubi Road 2, Singapore 408538 60-YR LEASEHOLD FROM 2008

Street-level view of Zervex, 8 Ubi Road 2, Singapore 408538. Imagery: Google Street View (user-contributed imagery), accessed August 2026.

Project Overview

Building NameZervex
Address8 Ubi Road 2, Singapore 408538
DistrictDistrict 14 — Eunos / Geylang / Paya Lebar
Tenure60-year leasehold from 30 June 2008, expiring 2068
Zoning / UseB1 Light Industrial
Built Form8-storey strata factory block, ≈231–232 units
Land Area / GFA12,510 sqm / 25,015 sqm, plot ratio 2.0
Completion Year2011
Nearest MRTUbi DT27 ≈750 m; Tai Seng CC11 and MacPherson CC10 / DT26 within ≈1.2 km
Key Road Access≈PIE and ≈KPE, each ≈5 minutes via Airport Road and Ubi Avenue 3
Transacted PSF Range≈S$675 – S$965 psf
Sale Price Range≈S$700,000 – S$5.7 million
Asking Rent Range≈S$750 – S$16,200 per month, ≈S$2.50 – S$4.00 psf
Occupier Base≈100 tenants — light industrial, distribution, med-tech and trading SMEs

Location & Connectivity

Zervex sits on the eastern flank of the Ubi industrial estate, where Ubi Road 2 meets Ubi Avenue 4 in District 14. Ubi is one of the last light-industrial pockets that still sits on the city fringe rather than beyond it, roughly six kilometres from Raffles Place and a short drive from the Paya Lebar Central commercial cluster.

Ubi station on the Downtown Line is the closest rail link at around 750 metres, with Tai Seng and MacPherson within about 1.2 kilometres. The walk to Ubi is unsheltered and takes a good fifteen minutes, so most staff and visitors drive or use ride-hailing. Buses run along Ubi Avenue 3 and Airport Road. Road access is the real strength: the ≈PIE and ≈KPE are each about five minutes away, putting the CBD within ≈15 to 20 minutes off-peak.

Amenities are adequate rather than abundant. FairPrice, Giant and Sheng Siong serve the estate, while 18 Tai Seng, Grantral Mall @ MacPherson and Paya Lebar Quarter cover larger retail needs. Zervex has its own eating place and coffee corner at ground level, which matters more than it sounds here.

Location of Zervex, 8 Ubi Road 2. Map data: Google Maps, accessed August 2026.

Building & Facilities

Zervex is an eight-storey strata factory block completed in 2011 by 3 Link Development, part of the Sim Lian Group, with Metaphor Design & Architecture as architect. It holds ≈231 to 232 strata units — roughly 198 factory units and ≈33 warehouse units — across a 12,510 sqm site with a gross floor area of 25,015 sqm at a plot ratio of 2.0.

The building presents a glazed facade and finished lift lobbies that read closer to an office block than a conventional flatted factory. Lower floors benefit from wide driveways with direct vehicular access to units, while upper floors are served by lifts and enclosed corridors. Loading bays sit at ground level and season parking is available within the building. Typical units include an attached washroom and a service balcony.

Verify specifications unit by unit rather than at building level. Ceiling height, floor loading, power supply and washroom provision all vary between low and upper floors, and several published figures for this development are estimates rather than certified data. Request the strata title plan, the approved use on record, the current MCST budget and any outstanding levies before committing.

Unit Types & Floor Plan Notes

Layouts are predominantly rectangular and column-light, which is a large part of why the stock resells reasonably well for its age. Transactions and listings over recent years have ranged from roughly 800 sq ft to over 3,200 sq ft, with larger warehouse and amalgamated units above that.

Compact Strata

≈750 – 1,150 sq ft

The most liquid band. Suits small trading, service and technical-support occupiers, and is the size most often bought by owner-occupiers financing through a single operating company.

Mid-Floor Standard

≈1,150 – 1,900 sq ft

The estate workhorse. Squarish layouts with attached washroom, frequently partially fitted with air-conditioning and lighting, and easily split into a front office with rear storage.

Large Floor Plate

≈2,500 – 3,500 sq ft

Fewer buyers and longer holding periods. Attractive where an occupier needs one contiguous plate, or where an investor intends to subdivide for multiple tenancies.

Ground & Warehouse

≈4,000 sq ft and above

Warehouse-designated and ground-level units carry the highest ceilings and floor loadings with direct vehicular access. Supply is thin and pricing sits at the top of the range.

Typical ceiling height: ≈4.5 – 6.0 m ground level, ≈3.6 – 4.2 m upper floors (estimate)
Floor loading: ≈20 – 25 kN/m² ground level, ≈10 – 15 kN/m² upper floors (estimate)
Power supply: 40 amp three-phase typical per unit
Vertical transport: ≈4 – 6 passenger lifts and ≈2 cargo lifts (estimate)
Loading & parking: ≈2 – 4 loading bays, ≈250 – 300 season lots (estimate)

Investment Case

Zervex trades at roughly S$675 to S$965 per square foot against asking rents of about S$2.50 to S$4.00 psf per month. That implies gross yields of ≈4.5 to 5.5 per cent before MCST, property tax and vacancy — respectable for city-fringe B1 stock, though the shortening lease governs everything downstream.

What Works

  • City-fringe B1 address at a materially lower entry price than Paya Lebar or Tai Seng equivalents.
  • Deep tenant pool, with ≈100 occupiers already in the building across varied light-industrial trades.
  • Modern 2011 build, glazed facade and office-grade lobbies — unusual for this price band.
  • Wide unit-size ladder from ≈800 sq ft upwards, so entry capital can be scaled to the business.
  • No ABSD on industrial property, and SSD falls away entirely after a three-year hold.

What to Weigh Carefully

  • ≈42 years of lease remaining, and financing terms tighten measurably as that number falls.
  • Unsheltered fifteen-minute walk to Ubi station weakens appeal for staff-heavy occupiers.
  • The 60/40 use rule caps how much of the floor area may be run as ancillary office.
  • Parking is enforced firmly; confirm season lot allocation and visitor rates before signing.
  • Ceiling height, floor loading and MCST figures here are estimates needing unit-level confirmation.

Who This Suits

Zervex suits an owner-occupier SME needing a presentable city-fringe address with genuine industrial permissions behind it — light assembly, distribution, medical and technical supply, printing, or a trading firm with a storage component. For investors it reads as a medium-hold yield play rather than a capital-growth asset: buy at the lower end of the psf range, hold five to eight years, exit while the lease still supports a buyer’s financing. It is a poor fit for pure office users and for anyone underwriting a redevelopment outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Zervex zoned for, and what can I actually operate there?
Zervex is zoned B1 Light Industrial, permitting clean and light manufacturing, assembly, warehousing, research and technical services that meet the light-industry nuisance buffer. The constraint buyers most often underestimate is the 60/40 rule: at least sixty per cent of the strata floor area must serve the approved industrial activity, and no more than forty per cent may be ancillary office or support space. Pure office, retail, showroom-only, clinic and general teaching uses are not permitted. Confirm your intended trade with the managing agent, and where there is any doubt obtain written clarification before you commit to a purchase or lease.
Can foreigners or foreign companies buy a unit at Zervex?
There is no restriction on foreign ownership here. The Residential Property Act governs residential land and homes; industrial and commercial property sits outside it, so foreign individuals and foreign-incorporated companies may buy strata units at Zervex outright. In practice most foreign buyers hold through a Singapore-incorporated entity, because local banks lend more readily against a local company with a local guarantor, and because operating licences attached to industrial use are simpler to obtain that way. Expect additional know-your-customer documentation, a lower loan-to-value ratio than a resident buyer would be offered, and somewhat longer approval timelines from the lender.
Does ABSD apply, and what about Seller’s Stamp Duty?
Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty does not apply. ABSD is a residential-property measure, so a B1 industrial unit at Zervex attracts none of it, regardless of how many properties the buyer already holds or whether the buyer is a company. Seller’s Stamp Duty does apply to industrial property acquired on or after 12 January 2013, on a three-year taper: fifteen per cent if sold within the first year, ten per cent within the second, five per cent within the third, and nothing thereafter. That taper is why short-hold flips rarely work at this price point. Underwrite a minimum three-year hold.
How much Buyer’s Stamp Duty and GST should I budget for?
Buyer’s Stamp Duty is charged on the higher of price or market value using the non-residential tiers: one per cent on the first S$180,000, two per cent on the next S$180,000, three per cent on the next S$640,000, and four per cent above S$1 million. On a S$900,000 unit that is roughly S$21,600. GST sits separately. Where the seller is GST-registered, the prevailing nine per cent applies on top of the price, and Zervex listings vary — some state GST is chargeable, others state it is not. Confirm the seller’s GST status in writing before calculating total outlay.
How does the remaining lease affect financing?
The lease runs sixty years from 30 June 2008 and expires in 2068, leaving roughly forty-two years unexpired in 2026. Banks generally want the remaining lease to comfortably outlast the loan, and many apply a rule of thumb requiring twenty to thirty years of lease left at the end of the tenure, assessed alongside the borrower’s age. At forty-two years a workable tenure is still obtainable, but the room narrows every year. Loan-to-value for industrial property typically reaches eighty per cent for a clean borrower, less for entities or those with existing loans. Secure indicative approval before offering.
What rental yield is realistic at Zervex?
Asking rents sit at roughly S$2.50 to S$4.00 per square foot per month, with smaller units commanding the upper end. Against a purchase range of about S$675 to S$965 psf, that implies a gross yield of roughly 4.5 to 5.5 per cent. Net yield lands materially lower once MCST contributions, property tax, agency commission, periodic reinstatement and a realistic vacancy allowance are deducted — budget one to one and a half percentage points of erosion. Upper-end yields are usually achieved on smaller, well-fitted units let to established occupiers, not on large raw floor plates.
At fifteen years old, does building age count against it?
Completed in 2011, Zervex is middle-aged rather than old. Structure, facade and lift systems are generally serviceable, and the glazed elevation and finished lobbies still present better than most flatted factories of the same vintage. The realistic concerns are cumulative rather than dramatic: lift refurbishment, chiller and pump replacement, waterproofing and facade sealant works tend to fall due between years fifteen and twenty-five, funded from the sinking fund. Ask the MCST for three years of accounts and the current sinking-fund balance, so you can see whether major works are funded or merely looming.
What are the odds of an en-bloc sale or redevelopment?
Treat redevelopment as unlikely rather than as an upside case. Zervex is already built close to its plot ratio of 2.0, so there is little unused development potential to reward a collective sale. Beyond that, the development holds roughly 231 to 232 strata owners, and industrial en-bloc attempts in Singapore have a poor completion record even where the economics appear adequate, because majority thresholds are hard to assemble among owner-occupiers who need the space to trade. The more plausible medium-term scenario is a lease top-up application, which carries real cost to owners and no certainty of approval.
What is the parking and loading provision like?
Parking is provided within the building on a season basis, and lower floors have wide driveways giving direct vehicular access to units. Loading bays are located at ground level. Published lot counts are not available, and our figure of roughly 250 to 300 lots is an estimate derived from gross floor area rather than a confirmed number. Occupier feedback indicates management enforces parking rules firmly, including clamping vehicles left outside marked lots, so confirm how many season lots come with your unit and what visitor parking costs. For trailer or forty-foot container access, inspect the turning circle yourself.
What should I expect to pay in MCST maintenance fees?
Zervex has no published maintenance schedule, so treat any figure quoted to you as unit-specific. Comparable strata industrial developments of similar age and specification across Ubi and Kaki Bukit typically charge somewhere between S$0.30 and S$0.45 per square foot per month, covering security, common-area cleaning, lift servicing, landscaping and sinking-fund contributions. On a 1,200 sq ft unit that implies roughly S$360 to S$540 monthly. Request the current MCST budget, the share-value allocation for your unit, and written confirmation that no contributions are outstanding and no special levy has been approved.
How liquid is resale at Zervex?
Liquidity is decent in the smaller size bands and thins noticeably above roughly 2,500 sq ft. Units between 800 and 1,900 sq ft trade most readily, because they suit owner-occupier SMEs able to finance the purchase through a single operating company. Larger floor plates and warehouse units draw a narrower buyer pool and often sit on the market longer, though they command stronger psf when the right occupier appears. The lease is the structural constraint on exit: each year of decumulation narrows the financing window for your eventual buyer, so a defined holding period matters more here than in freehold stock.
Which business types fit this building best?
The building works well for light assembly, precision engineering support, medical and technical supply, electrical and hardware distribution, printing, food-related storage where licensing permits, and trading firms needing a warehouse component behind a presentable front office. It also suits e-commerce operators wanting racking plus a small packing team. It is less suitable for heavy or noisy manufacturing, which belongs in B2 premises, and for businesses whose staff depend on rail access given the unsheltered fifteen-minute walk to Ubi station. Confirm your specific trade class against the approved use for the strata lot before signing.

Disclaimer: This review is published for general information only and does not constitute valuation, investment, tax or legal advice. Figures marked with the ≈ symbol are reasoned estimates where no published source was available, and all specifications, tenure details, pricing and rental ranges must be independently verified against the strata title, the MCST records and current transaction data before any commitment is made. Neither the publisher nor the research desk accepts liability for decisions taken in reliance on this material.

© 2026 SG Commercial Property Insights. All rights reserved.

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