Laguna Park En-Bloc Sale

Source : The Straits Times, Sep 2, 2009

EAST COAST condominium Laguna Park was put on en-bloc sale for $1.2 billion on Wednesday.

The condo, which made headlines in the past year for its spate of vandalism cases due to disputes in its en bloc sale process, reached the 80 per cent consent level last December.

The Laguna Park condo, which made headlines in the past year for its spate of vandalism cases due to disputes in its en bloc sale process, reached the 80 per cent consent level last December. --ST PHOTO: ADELINE ONG

Its marketing agent Credo Real Estate said the tender was put on hold until now 'as major developers have only recently returned to the land market with confidence.'

If it succeeds in finding a buyer, Laguna Park wil be the second billion-dollar en bloc deal in Singapore, after the 618- unit Farrer Court which was sold to a CapitaLand-led consortium for $1.3388 billion.

Like Farrer Court, Laguna Park is an ex-HUDC estate in Marine Parade and was privatised in 2007.

At the current price tag, owners of the apartment units will receive sale proceeds ranging from S$2.1 million to S$2.3 million, while the penthouses will gain between S$3.5 million and S$4.1 million.

It is also one of the few sites that come under the amended Land Titles (Strata) Act meant to tighten the en bloc sales process, which came into effect in October 2007.

Laguna Park has a land area of about 677,493 sq ft and a gross plot ratio of 2.8 under the current 2008 Master Plan, with a building height of up to 36 storeys, subject to relevant approval.

Credo's deputy managing director Tan Hong Boon estimates that the buyer would be able to build close to 1.9 million sq ft of gross floor area or some 1,500 apartments with an average size of about 1,200 sq ft.

At $1.2 billion, the land price for the condo works out to about $844 per sq ft per plot ratio.

This includes an estimated cost of about $400 million payable to the Government for maximising the plot ratio of 2.3 and the topping up of the current 67 year lease term to 99, said Mr Tan.

'At $844 per sq ft per plot ratio, the successful purchaser may work towards breaking even at around $1,200 to $1,250 psf, with a view of pricing the new units at $1,400 to $1,600 psf,' he added.