Chinese investors have bought a number of high profile overseas assets in recent years, including dropping $500 million for a yacht maker, and buying the Chase Manhattan building in New York for $725 million. Now one Beijing-based entrepreneur has bought a home in Silicon Valley with its own 36-hole backyard.
According to a recent report in the Silicon Valley Business Journal, Haitao Zheng, head of Chinese electronics manufacturer Sumavision, acquired a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course in San Jose for $16 million. The course is connected to a $4 million home that the Chinese tycoon purchased last November and is said to be using as headquarters for the US branch of his Chinese-listed firm.
In an interview with the China Daily earlier this year, Zheng was said to be looking for investment opportunities in Silicon Valley. The entrepreneur lamented, “We have too much money in pocket, but where is the good investment choice?”
Golf Course Acquisition the Latest Chinese Deal in the Bay Area
Zheng’s purchase of the Coyote Creek Golf Club, with its two 18-hole courses, is the latest in what appears to be a growing list of real estate acquisitions in the Bay Area by Chinese investors, as big buyer interest expands beyond San Francisco.
In August, developer Guangzhou R&F Properties acquired a two acre (8,100 square metre) site in downtown San Jose for a $250 million residential project. Chinese investors are also said to be behind plans to buy an office park site near San Francisco International Airport that has been approved for development of 700,000 square feet (65,000 sqm) of office space.
Chinese Real Estate Investment in US to Hit $15 Billion in 2014
The acquisitions in the Bay Area are part of a surge in international real estate investment by Chinese companies into the US. According to a recent report by property consultancy JLL, Chinese investment in US real estate will hit $15 billion in 2014, and California is the top target.
Having already invested more than $780 million into Los Angeles this year, plus more than $350 million into San Francisco, Chinese investors appear to be taking aim at lesser-known cities in the state.
Leave a Reply