Dragon Mansion En Bloc Sees Offer

Dragon Mansion was the first project to have attempted en bloc in 2009 and they seem to be having a decent result from it.

Dragon Mansion - Will it be the first successful en bloc this year?

Roxy-Pacific has agreed to acquire the site at Spottiswoode Park, but at a price below the estate’s original reserved asking price of $120 million (1,020psf ppr). The developer has offered $100.8 million (860psf ppr).

To make the en bloc a success, the sales committee will have to get 80% signature consent from the owners again to reduce the reserve price to get a fresh sale order from the Strata Titles Board. This scenario is exactly the same for Laguna Park, which has rumored to have consider reducing its reserve price down from 1.2 billion to 950million or 1 billion.

Roxy-Pacific cites that it needs to replenish its land bank, and will look at Dragon Mansion as the third land site to acquire. It has done two sites this year, both in Joo Chiat area totalling 1,966sqm of land.

Laguna Park En Bloc Tender Unsuccessful

Laguna Park’s en bloc tender results are unsuccessful, according to Channel News Asia.

There were two interested party in the exercise bid, namely a local company which comprises of shareholders from Indonesia and a prominent local developer.

Credo, the appointed agency for Laguna’s en bloc project gave a brief breakdown of the two parties. The local company offering bid of 1.7 billion, far exceeding the reserved price of 1.2 billion, but pulled out its offer citing difficulties with the bankers to remit the funds to process in Singapore.

The second party, prominent local developer has expressed interest to settle on a bid price after negotiations with majority owners. The majority owners have about a month to enter into any private treaty deal before the collective sale agreement expires in December.

About Laguna Park

An ex-HUDC which was privatised in 2007, the 528-unit leasehold Laguna Park has a sprawling land size of about 677,493 sqft with a plot ratio of 2.8 (under the current Master Plan 2008) can build up to 36 storeys, subject to relevant approval from the URA.

Laguna Park Site Location

First En Bloc Attempt in 2009 – Dragon Mansion

En-bloc uh oh, credits to Ang Morh, Flickr

The first attempted enbloc is finally happening with the surge of market movement lately in property riding on the possible surge and better sentiments in the property market.

The 16 year old 72-unit freehold Dragon Mansion (District 2) on Spottiswoode Park Road has crossed the consent figure of 80% to proceed with the en bloc sale.

Dragon Mansion has a designated residential land area of 41,874 sqft with a plot ratio of 2.8 and can potentially yield a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 111,700sqft. CKS Property is the marketing agent for the en bloc sale.

High Asking Price?

The asking price for the en bloc is at $1,020 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) which totals the possible development charge to be around $400,000. The asking price set is based on ‘limited availability of such freehold residential land near the central business district’.

Will it go? It’s hard to tell since the price tagged is really steep at the moment as property watcher noted that UOL in the property peak times (2007) has paid for Oakwoods Height which was just nearby at 740 psf ppr.

Again, we should probably see new en bloc attempts coming up again if primary sales market continue to move as developers will be looking for new supply of their land bank.

Horizon Towers gets a No Go for En Bloc

After a tormenting two years en bloc legal pursuit, the highest court, the Court of Appeal finally gave its verdict on Horizon Towers, the 199 unit condominium lying on Leonie Hill. The enbloc sales was halted, a judgment that surprised many owners.

The judgement based mostly on the sales committee established for the enbloc by Horizon Towers not performing its fiduciary duties as it’s suppose to. I think the deciding blow was on two owners who bought additional units before being appointed to the sales committee.

SINGAPORE: A group of homeowners has finally won the fight to keep their condominiums, ending a two-year legal saga.

In an unprecedented move, the Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of owners who objected to the S$500 million en bloc sale of Horizon Towers.

The Leonie Road condominium was to have been sold in 2007 to Hotel Properties and its partners.

Had the en bloc sale gone through, owners of its 199 units would have earned S$2.3 million each, while 11 penthouse owners would have received about S$4 million each.

… Channel News Asia

This is a ugly case of enbloc which got blown out of proportion that coughed up much legal costs along the way. Again, that would means more transparency in the future as people would be using this case to benchmark on the type of treatments they could get from the law.

For owners of Horizon Towers, it’s a 50/50 case in benefits as we do see a climb in land pricing with its next door neighbour Leonie Hill Residences (2005) by Tiong Aik with recent transactions hover the 1,800psf mark (freehold). Horizon Towers is a 99 year leasehold apartment which should command about 800psf at this current market rate. HPL and partner’s plan of 253-unit condo and eight detached houses on the site effectively was halted by the decisions from the Supreme Court.

Again that would call for another round of en-bloc, which I’m not sure whether any developers are willing to take the bite with the tarnished reputation the sales commitee have left in the near future. Horizon Towers definitely had a good deal in the climbing 2007 market from Hotel Properties.

It’s amazing also with 1.5 million incurred in legal costs, they could have done something better with the money.

Laguna Ex-Commitee Chairman Charged in Court

Should the en bloc craze comes back, this should serve as a warning to people who’re up to mischief for capital gains.

Businessman accused of vandalising property at East Coast estate

WHEN the possibility of a collective sale for Laguna Park was announced in December 2007, some residents held back, hoping this would drive up the estate’s value.

But things turned ugly later at the East Coast area condominium, which was hit by a spate of vandalism cases after several residents opposed the sale. Cars belonging to residents known to have been against the sale were splashed with paint or scratched, while mailboxes were found with glue in their keyholes.

Still, many residents of the 667,000 square-foot estate were shocked to learn that their estate management committee chairman, Mr Lee Kok Leong, had been arrested last August on suspicion of perpetrating these acts.

During a brief appearance in court yesterday, the 62-year-old businessman, dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt and black jeans, stood emotionless as he was charged with two counts of mischief.

According to court documents, Mr Lee is accused of inserting glue into the padlock, rear gate keyholes and main wooden door of a flat at Block 5000E of Laguna Park at 12.44am on Aug 25 last year.

He also allegedly vandalised the front and rear wooden door keyholes of another flat on the same floor.

The damages amounted to $590. – Source, Today

Still, I’m quite skeptical of Laguna Park going through the sale now during this bad economy times. Given a 667,000 sqft massive size land and most developers are still stuck with their launches of new projects, I can’t shortlist any developer or developers who would be willing to come in at this time.

No verdict is out yet for Mr. Lee, but this will set the record straight for people who’re thinking of forcing their residents out in the next en bloc fever.