Thursday, January 31, 2008

STB Rejects Collective Sale Of Regent Garden

Source : The Straits Times, Jan 30, 2008

AN UNUSUAL battle over the en-bloc sale of Regent Garden intensified yesterday when the Strata Titles Board (STB) threw out the sale - ruling the $34 million sale had not been done in good faith.

The showdown over the fate of the 31-unit West Coast Road condo site is now headed for the High Court.

The case is unusual because all six dissenting minority owners had withdrawn their objections to the sale, which was inked last April.

It is now the majority owners, who signed off on the sale, who are trying to back out of the deal with buyer Allgreen Properties.

The STB said it rejected the deal as it was not done in good faith as Regent Garden's valuation - on which the final price was based - was wrong.

It said Regent Garden's $34 million sale price was well below its market value.

The deal needed STB's formal approval as there had originally been objections.

The dispute also involves alleged extra payments made to minority owners to quell those objections.

In January, majority owners filed an originating summons in the High Court trying to overturn the sale.

They argued the $34 million price was wrong partly because of a wrongly-estimated development charge of $7.2 million - a charge for redeveloping a site to enhance its value.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.

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