As at Monday (Jul 27), 62 per cent of owners at the 660-unit condominium had signed the collective sale agreement (CSA), below the 80 per cent mandate needed before the agreement lapses on September 20. The figure was disclosed in a CSC letter to owners on Monday, ahead of a townhall on Wednesday at the estate’s clubhouse that drew more than 30 residents.

In the letter, the CSC cited five reasons for owners’ reluctance to sign: concerns that the reserve price may be too high to attract a buyer; dissatisfaction with the reserve price; disagreements over the methods of apportionment; attachment to the estate; and difficulties finding comparable replacement homes.

The S$1.78 billion reserve price excludes any land betterment charge (LBC) that may be payable by the developer to redevelop the site. Marketing agent ERA indicated that including the estimated LBC for intensification, a lease top-up to a fresh 99-year tenure, and bonus gross floor area, the current asking price values the plot at about S$1,355 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

The CSC argued that the S$1.78 billion reserve price remained competitive against government land sale (GLS) benchmarks set by nearby Pinetree Hill and Nava Grove. The Pinetree Hill site was awarded in 2022 to UOL and SingLand for S$671.5 million, or S$1,318 psf ppr. The Nava Grove site was awarded in 2023 to MCL Land and Sinamas Land for S$692.4 million, or S$1,223 psf ppr.

Pine Grove is a 660-unit condominium off Ulu Pandan Road that was privatised from a former Housing and Urban Development Corporation estate in 1996. It attempted collective sale five times since 2008, but failed to secure sufficient owners’ support or attract a buyer. The condo sits on a sprawling 893,219 sq ft parcel of land that ERA said can yield 2,050 new homes if redeveloped, subject to the relevant authorities’ approval.

Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at Mogul.sg, said the steady supply of GLS residential land is posing competition to en bloc sale projects, as developers may choose to acquire land through the GLS process instead. “Developers may favour GLS sites as the process is shorter and carries lower risks of owners’ objections and litigation,” he said.

The CSC’s appeal came a day before National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat unveiled fresh ABSD concessions for large-scale en bloc redevelopments. Mega en bloc sites yielding at least 1,400 residential units will now have seven years to complete construction and sell all units, up from 5.5 years previously. Large sites yielding at least 700 but fewer than 1,400 units will get six years. Both categories must achieve a redevelopment yield of at least 1.5 times the existing number of residential units.

ERA told The Business Times that the announcement was “creating a more supportive environment for large-scale collective-sale projects”, and could boost owners’ confidence to obtain the mandate.

The CSC has also pointed to rising maintenance costs at the ageing estate as a reason for owners to support the collective sale. Monthly MCST fees will increase to S$479.60 per unit from August, up from S$318.28 previously, with the 42-year-old condominium expected to require more repairs over time for issues including spalling concrete and water seepage.

If the sale fails, the CSC warned that values of larger units could fall to between S$1.6 million and S$1.8 million. There were no competing GLS sites in the vicinity during this attempt, though the CSC cautioned that development of the nearby Maju area could bring stronger competition in future bids.