TODAY ONLINE : No deal for Laguna Park as marketing agent throws in the towel

No deal for Laguna Park as marketing agent throws in the towel

05:55 AM Nov 19, 2009

by Tan Hui Leng

SINGAPORE - The closely watched collective sale of Marine Parade condominium Laguna Park has been called off.

The en-bloc tender which started off at a hefty price tag of $1.2 billion and was later revised downwards to $967 million has seen no takers yet.

The marketing agent Credo Real Estate said that even if an offer comes in now it would be too late to crank up the entire process again in time for the Dec 19 deadline, when the collective sale agreement expires.

As a result, Credo has sent out letters to Laguna Park owners on Monday to inform them the collective sales process has ended.

"The sales committee has decided to call it a day," said marketing agent Credo's deputy managing director Tan Hong Boon.

Mr Tan noted that even if an offer is made now or if the sales committee obtains 80 per cent of votes in favour of the new price tag, there would not be enough time to carry out all the processes required before putting in a Strata Titles Board application.

Built in 1977, the seafront development raised eyebrows in September with its jaw-dropping $1.2-billion reserve price tag. The former HUDC project with 528 units sits on a massive plot of 677,493 square feet.

But analysts and observers have deemed it to be too expensive, second only to another former HUDC estate, Farrer Court, which was sold for $1.3388 billion in June 2007.

However, the first tender failed despite a bid for $1.73 billion from an Indonesian-owned locally-incorporated company, as a down payment could not be made in time.

Owners were then asked to consider selling their homes at $967 million - about 19 per cent lower than the initial asking price. The new price tag meant that the home owners stood to gain about $1.8 million for a typical unit instead of the previous range of $2.1 million to $2.3 million.

Mr Tan noted that developers' have become increasingly cautious amid the recent market cooling measures introduced by the Government. TAN HUI LENG

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