http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/arch...oment-20120907

Published September 07, 2012

CIT not selling Lam Soon units at the moment

By carine lee


CAMBRIDGE Industrial Trust (CIT) will not be selling its 97 freehold strata units in Lam Soon Industrial Building on Hillview Avenue just yet.

Its manager, Cambridge Industrial Trust Management Ltd, said yesterday that though it received several offers for the proposed collective sale, none of the parties was willing to fully meet the terms of the Collective Sale Agreement, and hence no private contract was concluded.

"We are pleased to have received very good interest on the proposed en-bloc sale of 63 Hillview Avenue. The decision not to proceed has been made after a thorough evaluation of the various offers," said Chris Calvert, CEO of the manager.

Lam Soon Industrial Building is a 10-storey light industrial development comprising 154 warehouses and light industrial factories.

CIT's 97 units represent 69.44 per cent of the building's total share value.

The property was put up for collective sale earlier in May, when CIT together with other strata unit owners inked a collective sales agreement for their strata- titled interests in the building.

The 230,915 square foot freehold site, with a gross plot ratio of 1.92, had an indicative price of $330 million.

Inclusive of a development charge of some $80 million, the indicative price worked out to about $925 per sq ft per plot ratio.

CIT purchased the 97 units in 2006 for $72.2 million.

The marketing agent, Colliers International, said in May that the site could be redeveloped into a 10-storey residential development comprising 370 apartments averaging 1,200 sq ft each.

Despite not going through with the collective sale this time around, the manager is still open to the possibility of an en-bloc sale under the collective sale agreement which expires on May 1, 2013.

"We believe that CIT's interest in 63 Hillview Avenue, having freehold status, is a valuable piece of real estate, and we will continue to pursue strategies that are consistent with our objective of maximising unitholders' returns," said Mr Calvert.