We’re heading into the final 3 months of the year-long En Bloc process to get the 80% mandate to put our estate up for developer bids. There’s been a ton of developments since my last en bloc update in March, where I updated that we had reached the 70% mark.
Increase in Reserve Price
Firstly, the CSC and Huttons had in-depth discussions around the reserve price, and whether there was room for movement to the upside. Taking into consideration estate top-up costs and other factors into play, and predicting future real estate prices, both teams eventually came to an agreement.
The agreement was to have an increase in the Reserve Price of the Loyang Valley Collective Sale Agreement, from $818M to $880M.
This represented a 7.5% increase in the Reserve Price, and no doubt gave every owner a nice bump in profits, should the sale go through.
With the increase in RP, there’s been a flurry of activity from the Huttons team, leveraging this big development to re-new talks with the folks who are still sitting on the fence, urging them to take this opportunity to sign on the dotted line, and revisiting the reasons to go for the en bloc.
The Block Race
As part of making the process a bit more fun and competitive, we also recently started releasing information on individual blocks that have achieved the 80% mark. 5 Blocks have achieved that, including 202, 204, 210, 220 & 222.
Well done, you guys! I am glad that my block is one of those represented!
CSA Signing Progress
Having said that, there’s still a ton of work to be done before we can get to the finish line, and time isn’t on our side. Just 2 days earlier, there was an announcement that Chuan Park was being sold for $890M via private treaty, a 5% discount off their collective sale launch of $938M.
Hopefully, this piece of news spurs our fellow residents into action. The timing is right, the price is right, and the uncertainty of the macro economy over the next few years would heavily suggest that cashing out of this investment would be the right and prudent choice.
As of today, including partial signatories, we are sitting at 76%. A really encouraging number, but all that effort would count for nothing, if we do not get to 80%.
The CSS, Huttons, as well as a dedicated group of volunteers have been doing their level best to convince the estate that this is the right time, right price and right circumstances to be agreeable to the en bloc.
Seeing the dedication, as well as some of the responses from those previously on the fence, I am really hopeful of a positive result come November 2022.
This is probably my final update before we get the final results, so stay tuned!
If you live in Loyang Valley and are reading this, I’ll leave you with a quote from a legendary investor.
Regardless of the outcome, I have gained a lot of knowledge about the En Bloc process, and am thinking of documenting it all when this is over. I even have cover designs for each outcome ready!
After all, there are lessons in failures as much as there are lessons to be gained in successes.
