Laguna park to be put up for Tender

Laguna Park has advantage over Pine Grove - say analysts

An unobstructed sea view is unbeatable, if you ask me.

Laguna Park residents to pocket S$2.2m each from sale

Laguna Park residents will be pocketing about S$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 S$975 per square foot per plot ratio.

The 528 unit, 677,493 square feet property is attempting 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 (building a) potential 1,580 units for the redeveloped site, said 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.

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 : Channel NewsAsia – 18 May 2011

May Media

 Chinese top foreign buyers of Singapore homes - Reuters 25 May 2011
16% of private home buyers in Singapore in Q1 are foreigners - 25 May 2011
Property market may see major changes: analysts  24 May 2011
Laguna Park residencts to pocket $2.2 m each from sale  - CNA 19 May 2011
Private homes sales surge 29% - ST 15 May 2011
Private homes sales up 29% in April - CNA 14 May 2011
Haig Mansions sold to Vicland Realty - CNA 12 May 2011
En bloc sale market picking up: analysts - CNA 11 May 2011
40-unit development at River Valley put up for collective sale - CNA 11 May 2011
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TRACK RECORDS

Since the SC has shortlisted 2 marketing agents for owners consideration at an EGM tentatively set for late June 2011 - let's see what we can find out about these two particular agencies. Since it is not easy to get such information, I shall have to add as I go along..

TEAM ERA

Koon Seng House, Marine Point,  Rainbow Gardens

JONES LANG LaSALLE

Pine Grove, Eng Tai Mansion, Gilstead View, Glenville, Sea Breeze Apartments,  Cairnhill Gardens, Char Yong Gardens,  Chez Bright Apartment, Holland Tower, Kim Yam Mansion, Newton Meadows, Nuang Court

The sole law firm (to date) is KSCGP Juris LLP ( formerly known as K. S. Chia Gurdeep & Param). Founded on 1 April 1993, KSCGP Juris LLP is a multi services law firm with 16 lawyers under its wing and a full time staff support of  more then 75 personnel in 3 law offices.

Whilst Marketing agents love to have their names in print (little known Credo surged to No.1  after it's Farrar Court success), legal firms are far cagier and are rarely mentioned in the media in connection with collective sales.

SC meeting: 03 May 2011

SC Minutes 3 (Edited)


Note

4. Some observers opined that the Process of appointing MAs must be transparent. On behalf of the SC, Mr Srinivasan clarified that the committee us ensuring to keep the process as transparent as possible and any resident is welcome to go through all the proposals received by the Sales Committee and any related correspondence with the Sales Committee.

The committee decided to seek the shortlisted MAs to resubmit their proposals in a uniform format as per attached draft for presentation at the EGM ......

 It would be good if Owners who are  'in the know'  take a look at these proposals before the AGM in June. I hate EGMs where vital information is unknown and owners have to decide on matters without prior knowledge or proper analysis, because ultimately, it is not the SC's decision, it is the owners.

So go on, get a copy.

27 April 2011

Why is this unsigned Notice on MCST letterheaded stationary????

The rules forbid the use of estate money for collective sale matters. This includes the use of MCST stationary and photocoping machine.

Update:
The offending Notice have been taken down and replaced with another bearing no link to the MCST and signed by the SC Chairman.  

Pine Grove Tender & Private Offer

It seems to me this estate must have cool-headed owners who have not so far panicked and dropped their RP.
This is their 3rd attempt.

'One private offer received for Pinegrove' - Today 10 May 2011

Pine Grove tender closed - CNA 19 April 2011 



Pine Grove's DC may deter property developers: analyst ChannelNewsAsia - 10 Mar 2011

 Pine Grove up for en bloc

Jones Lang LaSalle has put up what it calls “the largest en bloc site” for sale by tender.

Pine Grove has a site area of around 893,000 square feet and is zoned for “residential” use.

Jones Lang did not provide an indicative price for the site but Channel NewsAsia reported in November last year that the site has an estimated reserve price of S$1.7 billion.

The property consultancy firm said the site has a gross plot ratio of up to 2.1 and can be redeveloped into a residential development of up to 24-storeys with a gross floor area of near 1.88 million square feet.

That translate to some 1,500 apartment units with sizes of about 1,200 square feet.

Jones Lang said the surrounding area comprises of prime residential developments and renowned educational institutions.

It added that the land would appeal to consortia as it could be redeveloped into a landmark development or be divided into several smaller parcels for different or phase development.

Looking ahead, the marketing agent also said that despite the recent cooling measure, it is confident that the demand for en bloc sites would remain strong as the surge in foreign home buyers due to key recovering economies, could fuel the take up rates.

The tender will close at 3pm on April 19.

ChannelNewsAsia – 7 Mar 2011

Pine Grove up for tender with $1.7b price tag

893,219 sq ft site could yield up to 1,500 units

By FELDA CHAY 

PINE Grove is up for sale by public tender with an estimated reserve price of $1.7 billion.
Marketing agent Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said the Ulu Pandan HUDC estate can be redeveloped up to a height of 24-storeys and gross floor area of 1.88 million sq ft - subject to relevant authorities' approval, and payment of differential premium.
Based on the estimated reserve price and the $460 million differential premium, developers would have to fork out $1,150 per square foot per plot ratio for the land, which has been zoned for residential use.
JLL's national director and head of investments Stella Hoh said that a maximum of five offers is expected for the site, which is likely to draw consortium bids because of its large size.
'Many developers are facing depleting land banks and would be looking at replenishing their land banks. Despite the recent cooling measures, we are confident that the demand for en-bloc sites would remain strong as the surge in foreign home buyers owing to the recovery of some key economies, further fuel the take up rates,' said Ms Hoh.
One property veteran said however that with the higher land supply from government land sales, the site may see few bids.
'The price is very high, not just in terms of the absolute quantum but also because of the rate it translates into,' said the analyst.
Still, the area may draw interest from large local and foreign developers because of its growth potential, said Cushman & Wakefield's senior manager of Asia-Pacific research Ong Kah Seng.
'Although homebuying sentiment has moderated after the cooling measures, choice sites in well-positioned locations or those in places with rapid on-going rejuvenation plans are favoured by developers.
'Selected developers (may) thus feel it is worth participating in choice leasehold sites like this to accumulate their land inventory, where hopefully homebuying sentiments will also improve, with genuine owner occupation demand growing firmer than the present encouraging performance,' said Mr Ong.
According to JLL, the 893,219 sq ft site with a gross plot ratio of up to 2.1 could yield up to 1,500 apartment units with an average size of 1,200 sq ft each.
The area is a short drive to Holland Village and Orchard Road, and is close to schools like Henry Park Primary School, National University of Singapore and Singapore Institute of Management.
The Pine Grove tender comes months after its residents, incentivised by the $1.7 billion price tag, gave the necessary approval to embark on the collective sale after two failed attempts to do so in 2009, and during the 2007 property boom.
With a reserve price of $1.7 billion, Pine Grove's sale could beat the $1.34 billion record set by Farrer Court in 2007. According to JLL, Pine Grove is the largest en-bloc site to be put up for sale in Singapore.
The tender will close at 3pm on April 19, 2011

 Business Times - 8 Mar 2011

Well, it didn't deter CapitalLand from forking out a DC of $450 million for Farrer Court...

Gov considers raising income ceiling for BTO flats

I need to brush up on the differences between BTO/EC/DBSS.

BTO  are just the regular 3rm/4rm/5rm/Exec HDB with their present income ceiling of $8k. Some 3rm have an income ceiling of $5K (non-mature estates), MOP (minimum occupation period 5yrs)
DBSS : Income ceiling $10K with a $30k CPF grant. MOP 5 yrs
EC:  Income ceiling $10K, with a $30K CPF grant.  MOP 5 yrs. Restrictions lifted after 10 years. Comes with condo-like facilities (EC projects here)

At the end of the day, how will it effect the private market? It is only those who have  joined the DBSS and EC queue who might think about switching to smaller, cheaper BTO flats in ulu places.  They are where they are because they cannot afford the even higher priced low-end mass market properties. The sandwich class; too rich for HDB, too poor for private. The queue for DBSS/EC will shorten, it might  become less viable or disappear altogether. The BTO queue will get even longer, and the HDB will have to start churning out new flats at an even faster rate to satisfy demand.

All boats rise in the tide.
I doubt if all three schemes will remain at the same $10k income ceiling,  there would be no purpose to it - perhaps Mr Mah will raise the income ceiling of DBSS & EC by 2K too!  That would mean the developers could bid higher for the GLS sites  and charge more for their new units. Private land, without multitudinous HDB restrictions, might see an increase in interest and price as a result? 

Or perhaps we will see the DBSS and/or EC scheme being scrapped altogether.  Go back to simpler times; the choice between HDB or Private - with no unsatisfactory hybrid in-betweens. 

My opinion is that HDB has long lost the plot, forgotten it's mission, it's reason d'etre with Minister Mah at the helm.

I found an old article related to this.....

Prime suburban spots

Prime Suburban Spots

THE recent data on the private residential market from the Urban Redevelopment Authority shows that the suburban mass market is the most active segment, accounting for 56 per cent of market activity in the first quarter of this year.

Genuine home buyers who have been less affected by the Government's market-cooling measures tend to purchase in the suburban mass market where prices are more affordable.