Laguna Park privatised

[mr funny]

Published July 17, 2007

Laguna Park privatised


LAGUNA Park HUDC estate has been fully privatised, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said yesterday. This paves the way for a collective sale, so owners can tap the much-improved market.The lease-hold estate comprises 516 apartments and 12 shops at Block 500A to 500G Marine Parade Road, HDB said.

This is the 11th HUDC estate that has been privatised since 1995 and the first privatisation this year. It follows the privatisation of the HUDC estate Chancery Court in 2004. HDB said three more HUDC estates - Shunfu, Serangoon North and Eunosville - are in 'various preparatory stages' for privatisation. Farrer Court, an HUDC estate that went private in 2002, was sold for a record $1.3 billion last month to a consortium.The purchasers are CapitaLand, Hotel Properties, US-based Wachovia Development Corporation and possibly a foreign fund. The sum is the highest paid in an en-bloc sale to date, according to Credo Real Estate, which brokered the deal.

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Privatisation of Laguna Park HUDC Estate complete

By Foo Xiao Xuan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 16 July 2007 1811 hrs


SINGAPORE: The Laguna Park HUDC Estate has been privatised and converted into a strata titled estate.

From now on, the estate will no longer be governed by the HUDC Housing Estates Act.

With the privatisation, the individual owners of Laguna Park now own their respective strata units as well as the common property as tenants-in-common.

It enables the lessees to have better control over the management and improvement of their estate.

And under the privatisation exercise, lessees in a designated HUDC estate can convert their leases to strata titles if at least 75 per cent of the lessees support the exercise. - CNA/yy

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The game - privatised today for enbloc tomorrow !

[mr funny]

July 17, 2007

Newly privatised Laguna now prime collective sale target

But owners of 30-year-old HUDC estate have mixed feelings about selling homes

By Nicholas Fang


ON THE CARDS: The conversion of Laguna Park to a strata-titled estate, meaning owners hold the title to their units and the common property, clears the way for a potentially lucrative collective sale. -- ST PHOTOS: DESMOND WEE, NICHOLAS FANG


THE Housing Board (HDB) announced yesterday that Laguna Park has been privatised, bringing mixed reactions from the owners of the 528-unit HUDC estate in Marine Parade.

The conversion to a strata-titled estate - it means owners now hold the title to their units as well as the common property - clears the way for a potentially lucrative collective sale.

Property consultants say they have been approached by owners at Laguna Park in recent months to discuss the estate's collective sale potential but some were not sure if they wanted one.

Of the six owners The Straits Times spoke to last night, three viewed the possibility positively while the others were not keen at all.

However, they were united in their affection for and emotional attachment to the 30-year-old estate with its sea views and prime East Coast location. And all of them expressed reservations about having to move should it be sold en bloc.

Retired pilot Tony Tan, 54, who has owned a 23rd-floor apartment for 20 years, said he would be interested in the possibility of a collective sale if the price was right.

'When I bought the place 20 years ago, I paid about a $50,000 premium over the going rate of about $350,000 at the time, just so that I could have a seafront view,' said Mr Tan, who lives there with his wife and two children.

'I truly love this place with the breeze and spectacular views, and I will be very sad to leave.'

Remisier Tan Thong Hian, 58, who also lives on the 23rd floor, felt that a collective sale was a definite possibility.

'The estate is old and some people could use the money. I think there will be no problem getting 80 per cent approval for a collective sale if the price is attractive.'

However, he also admitted he, his wife and son were facing a dilemma should the decision to sell en bloc is taken.

'I don't think we can find another place like this that is so big, quiet and has such views.'

Both Mr Mayur Vora, a self-employed commodities broker, and Mr S.C. Lim, managing director of management consultants Henry Noon & Co, were sceptical of an attempt at selling the estate en bloc due to the strong emotional attachment many residents felt to their home.

Mr Steven Ho, chairman of the Management Corporation Strata Title for the project, said that Laguna Park residents were to meet last night to discuss the latest developments but he declined to elaborate.

'As details and plans are not confirmed, I cannot comment as it depends on the owners,' he said. He did, however, confirm that there have been talks about the collective sale potential and admitted that there had been 'a lot of speculation'.

Property consultants DTZ Debenham Tie Leung and Credo Real Estate have both been approached by Laguna Park owners recently to potentially market a collective sale.

DTZ director Shaun Poh said: 'We were invited to do a presentation and hand in a proposal but we haven't heard anything official yet.

'Based on the site area of more than 677,000 sq ft and plot ratio of 2.8, we estimate that approximately 1,140 units of an average size of 1,500 sq ft can be built.'

Credo Real Estate managing director Karamjit Singh said that his firm was approached by residents just last month but that nothing official had been announced.

When asked how Laguna Park compared with Farrer Court, a former HUDC estate that was put up for sale at a whopping $1.5 billion in May, Mr Singh said: 'Right now, I would rate Farrer Court higher as it has a more central location.

'But if the market keeps going up, not just Laguna Park but any good-sized HUDC estate could surpass Farrer Court in time.'

Laguna Park is the 11th HUDC estate to be privatised since the Government's privatisation programme started in 1995.

Remaining estates such as Shunfu, Serangoon North and Eunosville are in various preparatory stages of the privatisation exercise, the HDB said.

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Kampung spirit



The Laguna Park HUDC estate (above) was a lot quieter in the old days before the Pasir Ris estate and nearby developments such as the Bayshore condominiums sprung up.

Residents remember that when it was first offered for sale 30 years ago, traffic was considerably less.

Mr S.C. Lim, managing director of management consultants Henry Noon & Co, talks about the 'kampung spirit' then.

'HUDC estates were for middle- income families that did not qualify for HDB flats but could not afford private properties. We had a lot of young professionals and their families in the estate and there was a very friendly, kampung feel.'

He says the buildings and layout of the estate is largely unchanged from the early days. 'The trees are bigger but the look and feel is pretty much the same.'

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watch this space.. LP launching soon.. Credo doing it...

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LOL.Nobody wants to buy.No more money.All ran away from Asia.

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LOL.Nobody wants to buy.No more money.All ran away from Asia.

Who wants to sell Laguna Park? The downgrader (to HDB or smaller size unit in remote area) ? The investors? The owners who have more than one units there? The owners who knew about the en bloc news well ahead of the en bloc exercise and bought a few units at low price for a killing?

For those who live there and love the spaciousness, the resort surrounding ( the sea front, water sports and seafood facilities etc plus transportation conveniences,would not sell, unless they could get a similar unit of the same size, same facing also at district 15, without paying more from the sale proceeds and compensasted for relocation cost and burden!

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Who wants to sell Laguna Park? The downgrader (to HDB or smaller size unit in remote area) ? The investors? The owners who have more than one units there? The owners who knew about the en bloc news well ahead of the en bloc exercise and bought a few units at low price for a killing?

For those who live there and love the spaciousness, the resort surrounding ( the sea front, water sports and seafood facilities etc plus transportation conveniences,would not sell, unless they could get a similar unit of the same size, same facing also at district 15, without paying more from the sale proceeds and compensasted for relocation cost and burden!

Sell and stay in Sentosa better.

[Unregistered]

Sell and stay in Sentosa better.

Are you suggesting that price in Sentosa has dropped to level with Laguna Park? You can sell Laguna Park and with the same proceed buy one in Sentosa of the same size and of course with good sea view?