The success of three residential 
en bloc deals this year may be igniting the interest of more property owners to go down that route, considering the number of projects that have kick-started the collective sale process.

Among at least eight collective sale hopefuls, owners of Lakeside Towers in Jurong have set up a collective sale committee (CSC), which has invited 14 property consultancies and seven legal firms to submit their proposals for consultancy services to execute the collective sale process.

This came after three en bloc deals racked up over $1 billion in value this year, up from a $380 million deal last year and zero in 2014.

The average annual value of collective sales from 2010 to 2013, however, was $1.9 billion, made up of mainly small- and medium-sized deals.

JLL international director and head of residential Karamjit Singh noted that the pick-up this year was underpinned by a recovery of developers’ residential outlook from negative to neutral-positive, a shortage of development sites and the strong attributes and realistic pricing of en bloc sites available this year.

For Lakeside Towers, the CSC is now going through the tender submissions from property and legal consultants, after which a collective sale agreement with a reserve price will be drafted.

It will require the signatures of owners holding at least 80 per cent of the development’s share value and strata area for the property to be put up for public tender.

CSC chairman Simon Lee told BT: “We reckon $250 million to 300 million in tender price should be comfortable to a single developer.”

The site at Yuan Ching Road, which houses 144 apartments, spans 153,237 sq ft with a plot ratio of 2.1 and has a balance lease of 58 years.

While it is still early days to determine how much each owner can receive from the sale, Mr Lee said he expects the site to receive a premium for its proximity to Jurong Gateway, Singapore’s second Central Business District, and the future High Speed Rail station.

It is also near the Lakeside precinct where the Jurong Lake Gardens, the new Science Centre and Jurong Innovation District are located.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, premiums in en bloc deals generally range from 20 per cent to 30 per cent, and even 50 per cent or more if each unit were to be sold individually in the open market.

But it is estimated that four in five collective sale exercises conducted over the past five years have failed.

There were as many as 20 projects that tried to sell collectively over the last four years, but failed to find a buyer at the price they were seeking, Mr Singh of JLL estimated.

Developers are also mindful of the 15 per cent additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) they will incur if they are unable to develop and sell all the units in a project by the end of the five-year remission period.

The other project that could be ready around the same time is the 12-unit Villa D’Este on Dalvey Road in prime District 10 – its second attempt since 2010.

CBRE is the appointed marketing agent for Villa D’Este and Cairnhill Mansions.

Owners of 330-unit Eunosville near the Eunos MRT station are reviving their collective sale process and have appointed OrangeTee as the marketing agent.

– The Business Times

We reckon $250 million to 300 million in tender price should be comfortable to a single developer.

– Lakeside Towers’ collective sale committee chairman Simon Lee

SINGAPORE: A total of 33 suspects were arrested for alleged involvement in an organised criminal group (OCG) that provides illegal remote gambling services. 

In a news release on Monday (Nov 28), police said the 24 men and nine women, aged between 24 and 69 were arrested during simultaneous raids across Singapore. It was one of the largest operations conducted by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) against a criminal syndicate, authorities said. The 30 locations covered include Bedok, Bishan, Choa Chu Kang, Hougang, Serangoon, Tampines and Yishun.

During the operation, cash amounting to about S$1.3 million, an array of computers, mobile phones, fax machines and other documents such as betting records wer seized. The police also initiated the freezing of the suspects’ bank accounts, with cash amounting to about S$6.5 million, and 36 properties with an estimated value of about S$39 million.  

(Photo: Singapore Police Force) 

Police said based on preliminary investigations, the organised criminal group is believed to have operated several illegal online betting websites facilitating lottery and horse betting. It involved networks of agents and punters betting through the group’s websites and members facilitating the OCG’s activities by registering the betting websites, performing network support, collecting monies or tallying accounts for the group, police added.

(Photo: Singapore Police Force) 

The suspects are believed to have received bets amounting to more than an estimated S$2 million in the past month, said the police.

Investigations against all the suspects are ongoing for offences under the Organised Crime Act 2015 and the Remote Gambling Act 2014.

“This is the first major operation by the Singapore Police Force against an OCG since the enactment of the Organised Crime Act,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Investigations and Intelligence) and Director of the Criminal Investigation Department Tan Chye Hee.

“The Organised Crime Act was enacted to strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to prevent and disrupt the activities of OCGs,” he added. “OCGs are involved in serious criminal activities such as unlawful remote gambling and can pose a serious threat to Singapore’s safety and security.”

Under the Organised Crime Act, any person involved in a Singapore-linked organised criminal group could be fined up to S$100,000 and jailed up to five years.

Under the Remote Gambling Act, those who provide a Singapore-based remote gambling service could be liable for a fine of between S$20,000 and S$500,000 and be jailed for a maximum of seven years.

SINGAPORE: A total of 33 suspects were arrested for alleged involvement in an organised criminal group (OCG) that provides illegal remote gambling services. 

In a news release on Monday (Nov 28), police said the 24 men and nine women, aged between 24 and 69 were arrested during simultaneous raids across Singapore. It was one of the largest operations conducted by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) against a criminal syndicate, authorities said. The 30 locations covered include Bedok, Bishan, Choa Chu Kang, Hougang, Serangoon, Tampines and Yishun.

During the operation, cash amounting to about S$1.3 million, an array of computers, mobile phones, fax machines and other documents such as betting records wer seized. The police also initiated the freezing of the suspects’ bank accounts, with cash amounting to about S$6.5 million, and 36 properties with an estimated value of about S$39 million.  

(Photo: Singapore Police Force) 

Police said based on preliminary investigations, the organised criminal group is believed to have operated several illegal online betting websites facilitating lottery and horse betting. It involved networks of agents and punters betting through the group’s websites and members facilitating the OCG’s activities by registering the betting websites, performing network support, collecting monies or tallying accounts for the group, police added.

(Photo: Singapore Police Force) 

The suspects are believed to have received bets amounting to more than an estimated S$2 million in the past month, said the police.

Investigations against all the suspects are ongoing for offences under the Organised Crime Act 2015 and the Remote Gambling Act 2014.

“This is the first major operation by the Singapore Police Force against an OCG since the enactment of the Organised Crime Act,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Investigations and Intelligence) and Director of the Criminal Investigation Department Tan Chye Hee.

“The Organised Crime Act was enacted to strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to prevent and disrupt the activities of OCGs,” he added. “OCGs are involved in serious criminal activities such as unlawful remote gambling and can pose a serious threat to Singapore’s safety and security.”

Under the Organised Crime Act, any person involved in a Singapore-linked organised criminal group could be fined up to S$100,000 and jailed up to five years.

Under the Remote Gambling Act, those who provide a Singapore-based remote gambling service could be liable for a fine of between S$20,000 and S$500,000 and be jailed for a maximum of seven years.

SINGAPORE: Running a 21km half-marathon is a challenge in itself but two men are going the extra mile by running blindfolded at this year’s Standard Chartered Marathon.

Joe Tan and Siva Shanker want to raise funds for the visually impaired, specifically, for a non-profit organisation called Global Clinic which conducts medical missions in underdeveloped countries. Its doctors perform a variety of procedures, including cataract surgeries on visually-impaired people.

“I thought it would be really, really cool if we could do something that will make people go: ‘Hey, that is really hard to do’, and bring light to the cause which is how hard it is for the visually impaired to do something like running,” said Shanker, a digital marketer.

Tan putting a blindfold on Shanker. (Photo: Shawn Lim) 

For Tan, a social entrepreneur who runs events for charity, he feels this would take their message a step further. “A lot of time people run and say they are going to support a cause. So what is the difference? It is really (in) putting ourselves in the shoes of these individuals that we will be able to push out the message more strongly,” said Tan.  

During the marathon, Tan, 33 and Shanker, 37, will run with professional pacers trained to guide blind runners. The pair, who have made it a point to train with each other weekly, admit it’s been challenging but said the experience so far only motivates them further.

“It’s mentally very challenging because when you lose your sense of sight, your other senses are heightened. So a little crash, a little click there make you really scared. If you are not 100 per cent focused, it is really dangerous,” said Shanker.

“It is challenging because we are entrusting every step of the whole journey to somebody else and it is something we need to get used to,” said Tan. “But if you ask me now, yes it is definitely worth it because of the awareness we are generating and the funds we are raising for Global Clinic.”

The Standard Chartered Marathon will take place on Dec 3 and 4.