Shunfu Ville En Bloc Hits A Snag

On 13 October, it has been reported that the sale of Shunfu Ville which is the biggest en bloc agreement since 2007 has hit a snag as 5 owners of the 358 unit property are requesting for better payout and better conditions to the sale.

The en bloc buyer is Qingjian Realty who has paid $638 million in May 2016 for this site with a huge land area of 408,927 sqft. The land cost works out to about $747 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). In July, a minority of the unhappy owners has filed their objection with the Strata Titles Board. However, mediation talks were not successful as no agreement has been bridged, so the case will be going to the High Court.

Further to this, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has put the height limit to a maximum of 23 storeys. This is to allow a view from the nearby MacRitchie Reservoir Park. This is contrary to Qingjian’s plan to build a new condo launch up to 36 storeys high in order to maximize the plot ratio of 2.8.

The dispute could be dragged on for at least half a year and this is an unfortunate setback for majority of the owners which accounts for more than 80%. If the deal had been successful, each owner stood to gain an approximate average of $1.78 million.

En bloc sales has increased to 3 this year while it was only 2 in 2015 and none in 2014. The most recent en bloc sale was brokered by JLL for Raintree Gardens in Potong Pasir at $797 psf ppr. It was a joint venture purchase by UOL and UIC at $334.2 million for this 175-unit Singapore property.