WARRING owners of Horizon Towers - already pledged to be sold en bloc for $500 million - failed to square their differences on Saturday, and a formal tribunal hearing is expected next month.
Many owners who originally agreed to the sale are now piqued over the huge difference from a neighbouring condominium’s asking price for collective sale. A move is being sought to review the sale - to get a better deal.
There is also a minority group which had objected to the sale and which is now seeking redress before the Strata Titles Board (STB).
The STB had first tried to convene a mediation session on May 29 but this was adjourned to last Saturday, to give the sides more time to reconsider the options.
A formal STB tribunal will now be convened. Representatives of the disputing parties are expected to appear before the STB registrar on Friday to obtain directions in the run-up to the tribunal hearing next month.
Horizon Towers, in Leonie Hill, was sold en bloc at $800 per sq ft (psf) in January. But neighbouring Grangeford Apartments, which is five years older, is understood to be currently going en bloc for an asking price of more than $2,000 psf of total floor area.
Under the collective sale price of $500 million agreed by 84 per cent of owners, each owner of Horizon Towers’ 199 units stands to get about $2.3 million, with the 11 penthouse owners bagging at least $4 million each, rising to $6.28 million for the largest unit.
Since then, however, property prices, especially in prime areas, have surged. Based on current values, Horizon Towers’ joint buyers - Hotel Properties and two other foreign fund participants including Qatar Investments - stand to make a paper profit of at least $500 million.
The gap between Horizon Towers’ $800 psf and Grangeford Apartments’ asking price of over $2,000 psf triggered an anonymous letter by an unhappy resident earlier this year.
The Straits Times understands that eight unit owners had not agreed to the original sale. Three are represented by lawyers.
The issue here is not about the collective sale per se. More than 80 per cent of unit owners must agree to such sales in the case of properties more than 10 years old. That is satisfied in this collective sale.
While there is a gag order on what took place on Saturday, the mediation breakdown was not unexpected - as any extra claim to be given to the minority group will have to come from the share of the majority of owners who are now upset with the collective sale price, due to be effected by August.
They will likely be less inclined to yield to such claims.
As it is, 39 owners have petitioned for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on June18. On the agenda is a move to remove the current nine-member sales committee that brokered and finalised the collective sale.
According to a copy of the EGM notice obtained by The Straits Times, they want to elect a new nine-member committee to review the sale.
But law firm Drew & Napier, which is handling the collective sale, has previously indicated that owners have no legal grounds to back out of the sale.
Source : Straits Times - 12 Jun 2007
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