Florence Regency seeks buyer in private after tender bidders won't raise offers

THE owners of Florence Regency, a privatised HUDC estate in Hougang, will continue to look for a buyer willing to pay at least the valuation of S$629 million after bidders in a public tender declined to raise their offers.

In a letter to property owners, the agent, Jones Lang LaSalle, said that it had asked the three developers who took part in the tender to raise their bids or reconsider their terms and conditions, but those developers declined to do so.

The agent will continue to try over a 10-week private treaty period to find a buyer who is willing to buy the property at or above the valuation price. If no buyer is found by Dec 5, the owners will have to consider a second tender exercise in January 2018.

Owners of the 336-unit estate had received bids that exceeded the reserve price of S$600 million, but none of those offers met the valuation amount submitted by independent valuer Colliers International.

The 389,236 square foot site has a gross plot ratio of 2.8 under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's 2014 master plan, which suggests that it could potentially support a total gross floor area of more than 1.1 million sq ft or an estimated 1,100 to 1,300 apartment units. The development has a balance lease term of about 71 years.

The en bloc property market has been heating up this year. On Thursday, owners of Cairnhill Mansions near the prime Orchard Road district put their development up for sale with an asking price of S$362 million. Also on Thursday, Normanton Park near Kent Ridge awarded its tender to Kingsford Huray Development, which bid S$830.1 million.