Laguna Park en bloc sale called off
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...013831/1/.html
Laguna Park could go at 20% discount to initial tender price
By Ng Baoying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 26 October 2009 2123 hrs
SINGAPORE: Home owners at the Laguna Park condominium in Marine Parade are now faced with the choice of selling their homes at an average of 20 per cent lower than their initial asking price.
This comes after a failed tender earlier this month.
Then, the site received a bid from an Indonesian-owned, locally incorporated company of S$1.728 billion, but a downpayment could not be made in time.
Since then, the collective sale committee has circulated a letter informing owners of a new potential selling price of S$967 million.
Under en bloc sale regulations, 80 per cent of owners need to vote in favour of this price tag before the sale can proceed.
When Laguna Park opened for tender in September, most owners stood to gain around S$2.1 million to S$2.3 million each. Penthouse owners would have gotten between S$3.5 million and S$4.1 million each.
But at the new price being considered now, owners will get almost 20 per cent less or about S$1.8 million.
Some analysts said this price might be too low to be attractive to sellers. But they said sellers need to take into consideration some of the less positive aspects of the property.
Nicholas Mak, property consultant, said: "They must be aware that this is an ageing development and the lease of 99 years has been run down significantly."
He added that sellers who are planning to buy similar properties that also have a view of the sea will probably have to pay as much as SS$2 million.
And he expects most owners to have to have to downgrade from their older, but more spacious units, to smaller new homes.
Charges to top up the lease to a 99-year term and to increase the site's plot ratio comes up to about S$440 million.
Earlier, buyers would have been looking at paying around S$850 per square foot per plot ratio - a price many analysts considered expensive.
At the new prices, the cost comes down to S$700 per square foot per plot ratio for the 528-unit leasehold Marine Parade project.
Property consultancy Colliers said S$967 million is a more realistic selling price, and could lead to some developers re-considering the tender.
However, many analysts also noted that the total price is still very hefty for any one local developer in today's market.
Laguna Park has a land area of 677,463 square feet, which means about 1,500 apartments can be built on the site.
According to the development's marketing agent Credo, the sales committee has until around mid-November to strike a deal with a buyer, before the collective sale agreement expires on December 19. - CNA/vm
Laguna Park en bloc sale called off
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...60213,00.html?
Published November 19, 2009
Laguna Park en bloc sale called off
Over at Meyer Place, owners to start inking deal soon to lower reserve price
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
(SINGAPORE) The en bloc sale of Laguna Park has been called off for now as the sales committee found it a race against time to get the minimum consent level from owners at a proposed lower price - said to be $967 million or $704 psf per plot ratio, down from the original $1.2 billion or $844 psf ppr reserve price - before the Collective Sale Agreement (CSA) expires next month.
But over at Meyer Place, owners will soon begin signing a supplemental agreement to their original CSA at a lower price of $59 million, down from the original $65 million. BT understands the sales committee is expected to sign an agreement soon for the freehold property's sale to a joint venture involving property and construction companies - subject to securing at least 80 per cent consent from owners at the lower price.
Meyer Place's CSA expires around mid-March 2010.
'The tender for Meyer Place closed on Oct 28 with four expressions of interest received and we are now negotiating with one of these parties,' says Christina Sim, director, investment, capital markets at Cushman and Wakefield, the marketing agent for the property.
The lower proposed reserve price of $59 million works out to $1,048 psf ppr including an estimated $3 million development charge (DC), down about 9 per cent from the $1,150 psf ppr based on the original $65 million reserve price.
Based on the revised price, the breakeven cost for a new development on the site could be $1,550 to $1,600 psf.
Laguna Park's sales committee decided to call off the estate's en bloc sale last week. 'While it did begin the process of getting owners to sign a supplemental agreement to lower the reserve price, the committee felt it was a race against time as the existing CSA expires next month,' said Karamjit Singh, managing director of Credo Real Estate, the marketing agent for the property.
Laguna Park comprises 528 units.
'It would probably be better if owners begin a fresh en bloc initiative next year and sign a fresh CSA which will give them a new 12-month period to find buyers,' Mr Singh said.
Laguna Park, which has a land area of 677,463 sq ft, failed to find a buyer after its tender closed last month. Although two bids were submitted, no buyer made the downpayment to seal the $1.2 billion deal at the time. Mr Singh said yesterday that although signing of a supplemental agreement at the lower price had started last month, so far no conditional agreement had been inked with any potential buyer for a sale at the lower price.
The unit land price of $704 psf ppr based on the revised $967 million price tag includes payment to the state to intensify the site's use and top up its lease to a fresh 99-year term.
Meyer Place has a freehold land area of 28,167 sq ft and was completed in the early 1990s, comprising 28 apartments - 24 units in a 13-storey block and four in a conservation house.
The property is zoned for residential use with a 2.1 plot ratio - the ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to land area.
Although Meyer Place is a relatively new development, it has redevelopment potential as its plot ratio in the 2008 Master Plan has not been fully utilised. 'The apartment block could be torn down and rebuilt into smaller units,' said Cushman's Ms Sim.
Market watchers point out that the buyer of Meyer Place could also seek to enlarge the plot by purchasing surrounding properties. Just in front of Meyer Place, at No. 40 Meyer Road, is a small apartment block with a site area of about 6,000 sq ft. There is also another plot behind Meyer Place housing two old bungalows at 18D and 18E Fort Road - adding up to more than 20,000 sq ft of land - that could potentially be purchased and amalgamated.
Last month, Roxy-Pacific signed an agreement to buy Dragon Mansion for $100.8 million or $863 psf ppr including DC - lower than the owners' previous asking price of $120 million or $1,020 psf ppr. Signing by owners of a supplemental agreement to the original CSA at the revised price is still in progress. The majority owners have up to January next year to make an application for a collective sale to the Strata Titles Board.
