En-bloc news: Pine Grove

It could be third time lucky for Pine Grove along Ulu Pandan Road.

The 99-year leasehold estate could be up for collective sale again with an estimated reserve price of $1.7 billion, said Channel NewsAsia yesterday.

The deal, if successful, would be the largest in the collective sales market since Farrer Court changed hands for $1.34 billion in 2007.
Channel NewsAsia said that property agents have been gathering residents’signatures since November last year, and they have amassed 80% of votes for the collective sale to start.
The next stage of the en-bloc attempt is the preparation of tender documents, but the votes have to be first audited by the appointed law firm Lee & Lee.

There is also a “cooling off” period where residents who had signed can withdraw their consent to sell within a week.

It is understood that Jones Lang LaSalle, which is the marketing agent, is unlikely to launch a sale this year, and will likely wait for more favourable market conditions.

Analysts believe that potential buyers are likely to take a consortium or joint-venture route so as to spread the risk.

A collective sale also faces challenges from a successful Government Land Sales programme.

“Developers sometimes prefer the straight forward government sale of sites,” said Donald Han, vice chairman, Cushman & Wakefield, Singapore. “The collective sale process on the other hand can become protracted.”

The 660-unit Pine Grove is a former HUDC estate, which covers over 893,000 square feet of land area. Several discussions had taken place between agents and residents to sell the estate in the last few years. The en-bloc fever was particularly strong in 2007 as the property market heated up and developers snapped up several estates.

The collective sales market took a breather during the financial crisis and has revived recently, but deals have involved mostly smaller estates with more affordable price tags.
Pine Grove’s reserve price of $1.7 billion could work out to between $2.1 million and $2.75 million per unit, depending on the size of the apartment and the development charge.

The current record for an en-bloc sale is held by Farrer Court, located along Farrer Road, also a former HUDC estate. It was sold in 2007 for $1.34 billion, and had a development charge of about S$500 million.

Observers said Pine Grove could attract a similar development charge.

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En-bloc news: Cardiff Court & Marine Point

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As reported in the ST and BT today:

Cardiff Court
Cardiff Court, a 43,500sqft leasehold site at Cardiff Grove off Lorong Chuan, is being put up for collective sale for $25 million.

The 21-unit project, on a 43,491sqft residential leasehold site in District 19, can be redeveloped into a project of up to 5 storeys.

The price works out to $519psf ppr, including the estimated development charges of about $6.63 million to top-up the lease to 99 years. The property currently has 72 years left on its lease.

It is zoned residential use with a 1.4 gross plot ratio, giving it a maximum potential gross floor area (GFA) of about 60,887sqft.

About 96 apartments of about 600sqft each can be built on the site, estimated Sieow Teak Hwa, director of investment sales at Teakhwa Real Estate. Teakhwa Real Estate is marketing the project.

He said that based on a land cost of $519psf, the breakeven price will be $860 – $900psf. That means prices in excess of $1,100psf can be expected at the launch.

Units at nearby 99-year leasehold project Hong Leong’s The Scala were recently sold for between $1,100psf and $1,500psf while another project in the area, Kovan Residences, has also sold above the $1,000psf mark.

Marine Point
Marine Point, a freehold 18-storey residential block at 95 Marine Parade Road, was launched for collective sale last Wednesday at an indicative price of about $110 million. Marine Point consists of 30 apartments and two penthouses on a 51,185sqft site. Its potential GFA is 107,489sqft.

This works out to about $1,116psf ppr, including an estimated development charge of $10 million.

It can be redeveloped to accommodate about 90 to 100 apartments average 1,000sqft each, said marketing agent ERA Asia-Pacific associate director Eugene Lim.

For both Cardiff Court and Marine Point, the requisite more than 80% of owners by share value and strata floor area have signed the collective agreement.

Both tenders will close on Nov 18.

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En-bloc news: Third time lucky for Robin Court!

The ST today has reported that Sing Holdings had been awarded the tender of the 15-unit Robin Court and an adjoining bungalow in Robin Drive.

It is paying $77.33 million, which works out to approximately $1,363psf ppr for the freehold site.

This is a better-than-expected price tag for a completed collective sale since the property cooling measures announced at the end of last month.

The site’s key selling point is that it is less than 200m from the upcoming Stevens MRT station – part of the Downtown Line expected to be completed in 2015.

The site’s land area is 40,518sqft with a gross floor area of 63,606sqft.

Mr. Karamjit Singh, managing director of Credo Real Estate, had expected the offering to do well, projecting offers of between $66 million and $74 million, or about $1,046 to $1,172psf ppr.

Given the higher selling price of $77.33 million, the break-even price is estimated to be $1,800psf and the selling price could be around $2,200psf.

About 60 apartment units of an average size of 1,000sqft – depending on layout and configuration – can be built on the plot.

The land is zoned for residential development with a plot ratio of 1.4. No development charge is expected.

This is third time lucky for the residents of Robin Court and No. 1 Robin Drive. The two properties had been launched for sale in 2007, together with a third property. But there were no takers. A second attempt in July 2008 for the two properties again yield no results.
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En-bloc news: Melrose Court & Maison Royale

Melrose Court
According to reports in ST & BT today, Colliers International said yesterday that it brokered the sale of Melrose Court en bloc for $44 million. This is below the $48 million asking price but about 5 – 10% above the reserve. Including a development charge of $277,235, the land price works out to $665psf ppr.

Melrose Court, at 10 Lorong Limau off Kim Keat Road, is a four-storey 32-unit development. It is on a freehold site with a gross plot ratio of 2.8. Colliers had previously said that the Melrose Court site can be redeveloped into a 22-storey project of 88 apartments, each measuring 830 sq ft. The new project would have a total gross floor area of 73,271 sq ft, including an additional 10 per cent of space allowed for balconies.

The buyer is Melrose Land, formed by a group of investors. The sale is subjected to the approval of the Strata Titles Board.

If it goes through, each owner will reap gross proceeds from $1.129 million to $2.261 million, depending on unit sizes.

Maison Royale
Maison Royale, a freehold site in the Newton area, is the latest development put up for en bloc sale. This is according to a Channel News Asia report yesterday.

The development located at No.1 Surrey Road is going for at least S$48 million. This translates to about S$1,220psf ppr.

The site has a land area of about 14,107sqft and  is designated for residential use with a plot ratio of 2.8 and an allowable height of up to 117m above mean sea level.

Currently, it has 20 apartment units with sizes of 1,249 and 1,636 sq ft.

The marketing agent, Urban Front Real Estate, said the site can be redeveloped into a 40-unit residential project with an average size of 988 sq ft per unit.

Owners can reap about $2.2 million to $2.59 million each, depending on unit sizes.
The closing date for the public tender is September 28.

And according to BT today, owners of Maison Royale had tried to sell their estate for at least $50 million in 2008.
 
 
With the recent property market cooling measures announced by the government earlier this week and the release of more government land for private residential housing, it will be interesting to see how much interest the Maison Royale en bloc will generate from developers.
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En-bloc news: Charlesville & Naung Court

Two freehold residential sites at Paya Lebar and Hougang are up for tender, as reported in BT today.

Charlesville

16 owners of this 5-storey, 18-unit development at Upper Paya Lebar Road have agreed to put their development out for sale. The asking price is around $31 million.

The site is 34,160sqft and has a plot ratio of 1.4. Charlesville’s existing gross floor area (GFA) is about 42,000sqft, but a developer can build a new project with a GFA of up to 52,600sqft, including an additional 10% of space allocated for balconies.

A development charge of about $2.9 million will be payable. The tender for Charlesville closes on Aug 18.

Hutton is handling the tender for Charlesville.

Naung Court

The 4-storey 20-unit Naung Court at Jalan Naung is also up for sale. Jones Lang La-Salle is handling the tender, and the indicative price is $28-30 million. This works out to between $650 and $700 per square foot per plot ratio.

The 32,689sqft site has a gross plot ratio of 1.4 and can accommodate a 5-storey project. The winning developer can build a project with a GFA of up to 45,764sqft, subject to payment of a development charge of around $2.7 million.

Naung Court is within walking distance of Hougang MRT station, Hougang bus interchange and Hougang Mall.

The tender closes on Sep 14.
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New rules for collective sales take effect today…

New rules aimed at creating more clarity over collective sales kick in today, as reported in the ST.

A key change centres on when an attempt to sell an estate en bloc fails to garner enough backing from owners.

To discourage repeated attempts when there is insufficient interest, a two-year restriction period will be imposed after a failed collective sale attempt.

During this period, the first retry to convene an extraordinary general meeting to reappoint a sale committee will require the agreement of 50% by share value, or of the total number, of owners.

This is up from the current level of 20% by share value or 25% of the total number of owners.

For the second and subsequent retries, approval from 80% is needed.

To speed up the sale process, the Strata Titles Board (STB) will focus on its role as a mediator, instead of also trying to make rulings in disputed cases.

How much will the new rules dampen collective sales, especially if market sentiments continue to be red hot? Only time will tell…

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En Bloc News: Pender Court

The ST today reported that Pender Court, a 48-unit freehold condominium off West Coast Highway, has been sold en bloc for $95 million.

This land price works out to $1,007psf on the potential gross floor area. The price is shy of the owners’ asking price of $100 million to $108 million but is way above the $80 million negotiated in an ultimately abortive sale in the boom days of July 2007.

Bravo Building Construction called off the sale in early 2008. It had also pulled out of two other collective sale deals.

Owners of the 48 units will get close to $2 million each.

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Developers that may be sitting on pot of "collective" gold

Sites acquired during the previous en bloc boom in 2006-2007 and currently held by developers will become more precious, if the proposed rule changes on collective sales make it tougher for prime freehold residential sites to make their way to the market.

Developers will also want to time their launch more judiciously if it gets tougher to replenish land-bank in this segment through en bloc sales.

Below is a list of such “prized possessions” complied by CBRE Research and published in BT today.

On Monday, the Ministry of Law released proposed amendments that will among other things make it harder to restart a collective sale within two years of a failed attempt. Any attempt to convene EGMs to appoint a sales committee during this period will require higher requisition levels from owners – 50% by share value or total number of owners for the first re-try and 80% for any subsequent attempts. Currently, requisitions for EGMs only require 20% by share value or 25% of total number of owners.

April "en-bloc" deal #2: CULFORD GARDENS sold for $39m

Report over the weekend indicated that Culford Gardens in Siglap, which was put up for sale last month, has been sold to Fragrance Properties for $39 million.

The amount falls along the higher end of the freehold property’s asking price, which was between $37 million and $40 million, allowing the developer to break even at about $950 – $1,000psf. The site had received four offers, all of which fell within this price range.

The selling price translates to a land rate of about $632 per square feet per plot ratio (psf ppr), based on a 1.4 plot ratio – ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to land area. This excludes the 10% balcony allowance.

Including the balcony allowance, the sale price becomes $574psf ppr at a gross plot ratio of 1.54. With the sale, the owners of the en-bloc site stand to receive an average price of $1.63 million for their property.

Culford Gardens, which sits on a 44,093sqft site in the Siglap/Upper East Coast vicinity, is zoned under Master Plan 2008 for residential development with a maximum height of five storeys and a 1.4 plot ratio. The District 15 site is close to amenities and F&B outlets in Siglap and East Coast Park.

It looks like the smaller developments are having more successes with collective sale these days. The wife and I wonder when we will see the likes of Pine Grove or Bayshore Park getting “en-bloc”-ed…

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April "en-bloc" deal #1: DIAMOND TOWER

BT reported today that EL Development has inked a deal to buy the freehold Diamond Tower at Jalan Rajah in the Balestier area for $49.6 million through a collective sale.

The price works out to a unit land price of about $652 per square foot of potential gross floor area inclusive of an estimated $300,000 development charge payable to the state.

Diamond Tower has a land area of about 27,323sqft and is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio. The plot ratio is the ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to land area.

EL Development intends to build an 18 – 20 storey apartment block with about 100 units of mostly one and two bedrooms and some three-bedders. The breakeven cost for a new apartment based on today’s construction costs works out to about $1,200psf.

EL Development may enter into a partnership with another party, said to be construction group Teambuild, for the site’s acquisition.

Diamond Tower’s collective sale was marketed by Urban Front Real Estate. It was offered through a tender exercise which closed last month without a deal being sealed. EL Development has submitted their offer after that and are buying under a private treaty deal.

The proposed collective sale of Diamond Tower will be subjected to approval from Strata Titles Board as its owners have not unanimously consented to the sale.

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