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Lexus and Toyota vandalised in the latest attacks in Laguna Park

HUNGER for en-bloc dollars looks to have turned vicious at a quiet private estate in East Coast.

On Tuesday night, two residents of the 530-unit Laguna Park estate discovered that their cars had been doused with a corrosive liquid, possibly paint thinner.

They were among the residents who had not yet agreed to put the seaside development up for sale. Earlier this month, two other cars belonging to the dissenting group were also vandalised.

Residents claim they were the latest of several cases of vandalism that began after the possibility of going en-bloc arose last December.

The estate has until the end of this year to gather an 80 per cent vote to put it up for sale. But so far, residents say less than 65 per cent are onboard.

Residents have been told by a property valuer that an average unit could be worth more than $2.1 million and the penthouses almost $4 million if the estate goes en-bloc. A resident said the market rate for a normal unit now is about $1.3 million.

Some of the holdouts have lived in Laguna Park since it was built in 1977, while others have been there for many years.

Some residents told The Straits Times they were surprised that the sale has fostered so much acrimony.

Five cars have been vandalised in recent weeks, said the outgoing chairman of the condominium’s management committee, Mr Chua SC, who declined to give his full name. Some vehicles were doused with a corrosive liquid while others were scratched and splashed with black paint.

Police reports have been made and investigations are under way.

An independent analyst said residents sometimes do strange things in the hopes of pushing through an en bloc sale.

‘But resorting to criminal acts…this would be the first time,’ said Mr Ku Swee Yong, Savills’ director of marketing and business development.

The vandalism could ultimately be a futile exercise with the cooling property market, said Mr Ku.

‘It’s a bit of a long shot in these market conditions to find buyers.’

Laguna Park residents told The Straits Times yesterday that they believed the vehicle attacks were ‘inside jobs’ committed by people who support the en-bloc deal.

If this proves true, Mr Chua thinks it is a ‘very stupid, silly and naive way of trying to get people to sign’.

‘I don’t think this is the right way to do it,’ said an agitated Mr Chua, who had the logo ripped off his Nissan about three weeks ago.

Mr Robin Sng, a company director, owns one of the cars damaged on Tuesday night. The corrosive liquid ate away the paint on the bonnet, door and bumper of his four-year-old Lexus.

‘I feel frightened,’ he said.

A brand new Toyota parked 50m away was also vandalised on the same night.

A resident diligently went round the estate’s dustbins and found a can of paint remover in a rubbish bin near the carpark. The can was taken away as evidence by the police, who are investigating the rash of vandalism.

Mr Chua said he told residents at a recent annual general meeting that something had to be done about the cases.

Residents earlier shot down the idea of installing surveillance cameras, he said.

‘Now I suppose it has become urgent enough to reactivate the idea.’

Source : Straits Times - 24 Jul 2008

THE owners of a site off Bukit Timah Road are trying again for a collective sale - but after slashing the original price by nearly 40 per cent because of the grim market.

They want $58 million to $60 million for Robin Court, a walk-up block of 15 flats, and No. 1 Robin Drive, a detached house that hosts a preschool.

The new price tag for the 40,518 sq ft parcel works out to $964 to $996 per sq ft (psf) of the total potential floor area of about 62,400 sq ft. This is almost 40 per cent below the $1,500 to $1,600 psf they sought during their first sale attempt last year when the property market was buzzing.

Ms Yong Choon Fah, executive director of Credo Real Estate, which is marketing the District 10 site, said Robin Court’s majority owners had agreed to sell en bloc before collective sale rules were changed in October. They are re-inking the sale agreement to lower the reserve price. A developer could build 30 high-end apartments of 2,000 sq ft each. The breakeven cost would be $1,470 to $1,500 psf of floor area, estimated Ms Yong.

The site was first put up for sale in November along with Robin Star, a 10-unit apartment block that is not included in the latest sale effort.

Meanwhile, buyers are being sought for two blocks of apartments at Gallop Gables off Farrer Road. Property firm Knight Frank is inviting expressions of interest for the 38 tenanted apartments, which have been kept for investment since completion of the project in 1997.

The properties are owned by Straits Trading. The indicative price is $1,500 psf, which works out to about $4.5 million for each apartment, or $171 million in total.

Source : Straits Times - 24 Jul 2008

Owners of Robin Court and No. 1 Robin Drive are putting their properties up for collective sale for a second time. But this time, their asking price is 40% below their initial expectations.

The indicative price of the combined plots is now S$58 million to S$60 million. No development charge is payable for redeveloping the site.

The prime District 10 parcel at Robin Drive, off Bukit Timah Road, is a few minutes’ walk from the newly-announced Stevens MRT station. It spans more than 40,000 square feet, with a gross plot ratio of up to 1.4.

Credo Real Estate, which is marketing the deal, said the land cost is about S$964 to S$996 per square foot per plot ratio. At this price, the developer is expected to be able to breakeven at about S$1,470 to S$1,500 per square foot.

The new development could accommodate a luxurious residential project with a gross floor area of 62,398 square feet. It could yield 30 apartment units with an average size of 2,000 square feet each. - CNA /ls

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 23 Jul 2008

Majority owners’ last-ditch bid to push through collective sale may bear fruit

AN ELEVENTH-HOUR bid by the owners of Tampines Court to save their collective sale from petering out seems to be paying off.

The deal was in danger of collapsing after the sales committee delayed seeking mandatory Strata Titles Board (STB) approval for the sale.

The STB had scheduled to hear the case only next month, but the sales agreement with Far East Organization and Frasers Centrepoint expires this Friday. The two property giants do not look keen to grant an extension.

As a result, the sales committee last week applied successfully to the High Court to have the STB hear the case earlier.

At yesterday’s hearing, those who objected to the sale had their say, clearing the way for lawyers for majority and minority owners to submit closing statements in writing by Thursday.

The STB had initially set yesterday’s hearing for Aug 7, but that would have killed the $405 million collective sale as it would come after the July 25 deadline.

The deadline fix stemmed from the sales committee’s decision to delay seeking mandatory STB approval for the deal until Jan 7, although all the necessary conditions had been met as early as July 25 last year.

It wanted to wait until the board had ruled on the Gillman Heights sale. Any ruling could have had a bearing on the fate of the Tampines Court deal as both are former Housing and Urban Development Company estates.

The squeeze on dates became potentially disastrous when the STB dismissed an appeal to bring forward the Aug 7 hearing, forcing majority owners to appeal to the High Court last week.

Lawyer N. Sreenivasan, who represents the minority owners, said yesterday the High Court did not explicitly order the STB to rule by Friday. But the board’s deputy president, Mr Alfonso Ang, said it was likely to, in the ’spirit’ of the court’s order.

Sales committee chairman Mathew Lee, who spent the most time on the witness stand yesterday, was grilled on whether he had acted in the owners’ best interests on the issue of the estate’s valuation and the method of distribution of sale proceeds.

The lively session also drew a few laughs, particularly when Senior Counsel Andre Yeap, who represents the majority owners, said Mr Sreenivasan was ‘highly intelligent’, to which the latter interjected: ‘No, I am not.’

Resident Niamh Choo, who also took the stand, told The Straits Times later that one of the minority owners’ biggest concern was that some of the proceeds would be distributed unfairly.

In his closing statement, Mr Yeap said there was insufficient evidence that the sale lacked good faith.

Mr Sreenivasan will make his closing statements to the board today.

Source : Straits Times - 22 Jul 2008

More factors to considerthan just higher bid price :

I REFER to “Time to relook en bloc rules?” (Weekend Today, July 19-20).

On the contrary to what the letter-writer said, there are already enough en bloc rules. Without being privy to certain information, it is incorrect to infer that the Horizon Towers deal was done in bad faith and the proprietary owners did not get the highest price and were “shortchanged” as a result.

In fact, the Judge ruled that the Strata Title Board found the sales committee had made a judgment call to proceed with the offer, and the objectors did not prove the committee had acted in bad faith.

The pertinent question is whether the committee had made the right judgment call.

It was reported that a higher offer was made from a Hong Kong developer, ­Vineyard Holdings. But who is this developer? Does it have the financial means to complete the deal? The objectors were unable to shed any light.

Whether there was a genuine offer on the table, the objectors were also not able to tell.

The additional $10 million is not exactly compelling when apportioned over 210 condo units. It is also not an amount so huge that Horizon Partners could not counter with a higher offer.

Since Horizon Partners’ offer met the reserve price, it is logical and makes good business sense to secure a sure deal with an established buyer. On that basis, the committee made the right judgment call to seal the deal.

It is noted that the unhappiness and manoeuvre came about when it was learned that a neighbouring development was sold for more than double the price.

Our laws should not be changed just because certain factions failed to get their ways.

Source : Today - 21 Jul 2008