Enbloc News: Laguna Park (again) and Henry Park Apartments

Laguna Park at Marine Parade Road is up for collective sale with a reserve price of $1.25 billion.

Together with Henry Park Apartments, which is also up for collective sale at between $170 million and $180 million, the total value of properties that have come up for sale in October has hit close to $5 billion.

With over 10 sites now available for sale, developers appear to be spoilt for choice.

Nicholas Wong, Executive Director (Investment) at Knight Frank, said that developers are looking at collective sales with some caution now and added that any sale will depend on the attributes of the site and the developer’s risk appetite as well as market sentiment.

He also noted that the Government Land Sales Programme is offering developers many alternative sites.

Knight Frank is marketing the 677,493sqft Laguna Park site and it believes the proximity to the seafront would a key selling point for any new development. Based on the reserve price, the land price comes to about $954psf ppr.

Laguna Park was put up for sale earlier this year with a reserve price of $1.33 billion. But the tender closed without a successful bid.

While the downward revision of the reserve price suggests that sellers might be more motivated to sell now, Mr Wong said that new requirements for en bloc sales allow a development to be put up for sale for one year only after receiving 80% approval from homeowners. When this lapses, sellers have to seek a new mandate. So some sellers choose to relaunch the site for sale within the year instead, added Mr Wong.

Tan Hong Boon, Deputy Director, Credo Real Estate, pointed out that no collective sale has been transacted at over $200 million yet. “Generally, the key will be the land price and quantum,” he said.

Credo is marketing the 99,000sqft Henry Park site. Based on its asking price, the land price works out to be $1,216 – $1,287psf ppr.

Still, Mr Tan does not believe that the slew of collective sale sites will mean land prices will fall. “Some sellers may have lowered their asking prices but their reserve price has stayed the same,” he added.

Mr Wong is still positive on the Singapore property market too. “Barring the worsening in the global economic situation, the property market here should remain stable,” he said.

The tender for Laguna Park will close on December 6, while the tender for Henry Park closes on December 1.

Source: Channel News Asia

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Enbloc News #3: Wassup, Laguna Park?

The tender for the collective sale of Laguna Park has closed.

Its marketing agent Knight Frank declined to elaborate if any bids were received in the tender, or if the bids matched its reserve price.

Knight Frank would only say it is in the process of negotiating with an interested party.

The marketing agent has another 10 weeks to finalise a sale or negotiate a private treaty with interested parties, before the en bloc process collapses.

Experts speculate that Knight Frank’s reluctance to reveal more details could mean a lack of strong interest for the site.

This is the second time the 33-year-old condominium has been put up for sale.

The asking price this time is $1.33 billion, higher than the $1.2 million price tag in an earlier attempt in October 2009.

If the sale goes through this time, Laguna Park residents could pocket about $2.2 million each from the successful sale of the property.

Source: Channel News Asia

In other words: Offer (if there was one) is some way below the reserve price so expect more negotiations (marketing agent vs interested party) and persuasions (marketing agent vs residents) to take place over the coming 10 weeks.


Watch this space for further updates!

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Laguna Park Enbloc: Maths tutor needed!

The Straits Times today has reported on the $1.33 billion asking price for Laguna Park, which you probably have already heard about. Laguna Park comprises 516 residential apartments and 12 commercial units.

It goes on to say that the asking price includes about $250 million to top up the 99-year lease and a development charge of almost $269 million to enhance the property’s use.

And if the latest bid comes off, residents of the 34-year-old condo each stand to receive between $2.35 million for a 1,453sqft apartment and $4.5 million for a 3,369sqft penthouse unit. All 12 of the Laguna Park’s commercial units are 1,636sqft and are owned by HDB, which stands to receive a total of $22.2 million from the development’s sale.

The wife and I are struggling with the Maths somewhat:

Asking Price = $1.33 billion = $1330 million

(minus) Lease Top-up = $250 million

(minus) Development Charge = $269 million

(minus) Proceeds for 12 Commercial Units = $22.2 million

Nett Proceeds for remaining 516 Residential Units = $788.8 million

For the sake of simplicity, if we assume all 516 residential units are of the same size (which they are not), each unit will expect to get ($788.8/516) = $1.53 million

So how did ST come up with the figure of $2.35 million for a $1,453sqft apartment..?

Given the supposed $975psf ppr asking price, we suspect the $1.33 billion excludes the cost of lease top-up and DC…

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Enbloc News: Laguna Park to price at $1.33 billion

Laguna Park, a residential redevelopment site in District 15, is up for en bloc sale at an expected price of $1.33 billion.

This is the second time the development has been put up for sale, with a previous attempt in October 2009.

Sole marketing agent Knight Frank said the prime leasehold site is located along Marine Parade Road and has a land area of nearly 63,000 square metres.

The land is zoned for residential use at a plot ratio of 2.8.

Laguna Park currently comprises 516 residential apartments and 12 commercial units with sizes ranging from 135 square metres to nearly 315 square metres.

Knight Frank said this translates to a land price of $975 per square foot per plot ratio, based on the potential gross floor area of about 176,000 square metres and the expected price of $1.33 billion.

It added Laguna Park is a rare site where potential developers can capitalise on the unblocked sea views which span 300 metres and a clear city skyline.

The tender will close in the afternoon of July 5.

Source: Channel News Asia

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And the en bloc wheels keep on turning: Laguna Park

Laguna Park residents will be pocketing about $2.2 million each from the successful sale of the property, which will be put up for tender on May 24.

With a plot ratio of 2.8, Laguna Park’s price works out to $975psf ppr.

The 528-unit, 677,493sqft property is making a second collective sale attempt with Knight Frank as its sole marketing agent.

Knight Frank said the 33-year-old Laguna Park possesses many quality traits – it is the only available landsite along Marine Parade with a seafront view and it sits on a rectangular-shaped plot.

But the winning buyer would be tasked with a potential 1,580 units for the redeveloped site, said Mr Tan Tiong Cheng, chairman of the Knight Frank marketing team handling Laguna Park’s sale.

He maintains that with a rectangle-shaped plot, a consortium of developers could split the land up and sell the units in phases.

The firm is currently marketing the project to large property developers as well as a number of foreign ones.

Knight Frank has also highlighted Pine Grove as one of the key competitors to Laguna Park.

On top of Pine Grove, the marketing agent pointed out the large supply of government land and other key en bloc projects as competition.

Meanwhile, the overall sentiment among residents of Laguna Park is one of confidence.

“Residents are more positive about the sale this time around because property market is more robust and developers are building up their land bank now. The previous time it was put on sale was about 2009, when the property market sunk due to the Lehman Brothers crisis,” said a resident who declined to be named.
 

Source: TODAY

 

Good luck to residents of Laguna Park on their collective sale. They will probably need lots of it…



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Enbloc News: 2nd try for Laguna Park

The Straits Times today reported that the sales committee at Laguna Park has secured the 80% mandate for a collective sale last Thursday. This is two years after an earlier bid was called off.

While the asking price has not been fixed yet, it is believed owners of the 258 units have been told they could receive up to $2.3 million per unit.

That would make the price for the 99-year leasehold estate in Marine Parade around the $1.2 billion they demanded in 2009.

A potential deal for the former HUDC estate then was called off when the sales committee was too pressed for time trying to get the minimum consent level from owners for a proposed lower price.

Sources say the tender for the 677,463sqft site could possibly be rolled out as early as the middle of next month.

There have been a number of large estates put up for sale en bloc in the past three months.

Pearl Bank Apartments at Outram was put on the market for $750 million while the owners of Pine Grove condominium in Ulu Pandan are asking $1.7 billion.

The tender for Pine Grove closed on April 19, but the marketing agents have not revealed the outcome.

The tender for Pearl Bank closes on May 25.

Hawaii Tower and Tulip Garden, with reserve prices of $700 million and $650 million, respectively, have yet to seal any concrete deals.

Property market observers doubt any concrete deal will surpass the $1 billion mark this year.

The East Coast area has seen some success but on a smaller scale. Two condominiums near Laguna Park – Marine Point and Amber Glades – were sold earlier this year for under $120 million each.

Some analysts say developers may be shying away from larger sites, preferring smaller, more affordable plots that carry a lower risk if the market turns.

Again, this is one that the wife and I would not be holding our breath for. And come May 25, we have this strange feeling that it’ll be all quiet at Pearl Bank too…

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