Singapore rooftops will soon help to bring you more sustainable cat videos
The promise of a greener data centre leads today’s real estate news as Facebook signs a deal that promises to power its Singapore bit barn through solar panels on top of the city’s omnipresent apartment blocks.
Also seeking some sustainability dividends is BlackRock, which has signed up to acquire a Taiwan solar developer and operator. In some news that will be welcomed by the few Singapore occupiers now looking to sign an office lease, rents for desk space in Southeast Asia’s wealthiest city fell by 5.1 percent during the third quarter.
Facebook to Tap 1,200 Rooftops to Power SG Data Centre
Facebook has inked a deal with Sunseap Group to tap solar energy that will power its data centre and operations in Singapore. Generated from solar panels to be placed atop 1,200 apartment blocks and 49 government buildings across the island, the power is estimated to reach 100 MegaWatt-peak (MWp) in capacity when fully completed in 2022.
The agreement with local solar energy company Sunseap is touted to be the largest signed under a virtual power purchase agreement, according to a statement released Monday by Sunseap. Such agreements refer to contracts that outline a pre-agreed price at which the buyer will purchase a project’s renewable energy. This energy can be generated from a renewable energy project located away from a company’s premises, but co-located on the same grid. Read more>>
BlackRock to Acquire Majority Stake in Taiwan Solar Operator
BlackRock Real Assets has agreed to acquire a majority stake in New Green Power (NGP), a leading Taiwanese solar developer and operator. NGP is aiming for a 1 gigawatt solar portfolio in Taiwan over the next three to five years as it pursues regional expansion.
The acquisition will be made through a private fund managed by BlackRock Real Assets that invests in climate infrastructure assets globally. It builds on its partnership with NGP since 2018, which has resulted in over 40 solar projects in Taiwan. Read more>>
Singapore Office Rents Drop Further in Q3
Leasing activity for Grade A offices in Singapore came to a halt during the circuit breaker period and remained sluggish during the third quarter of this year, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) on Tuesday (Oct 6).
Amid the worst recession on record due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Grade A Central Business District rents continued to decline, falling 5.1 per cent quarter on quarter to $9.84 per sq ft per month in the third quarter of this year, C&W said. Read more>>
No Recovery in Sight for APAC Commercial Property
Property investors are staying on the sidelines in Asia-Pacific, with a strong recovery unlikely to happen anytime soon, analysts said.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic shock has slammed the region’s commercial real estate market. The total value of transactions plummeted by nearly 40 per cent in the year to September, as the number of deals fell by almost a third, according to Real Capital Analytics. Read more>>
KKR Raises $13B for Asia-Focused Fund, Exceeds Target
The US-based investment company raised the amount across its fourth Asia-focused fund and its parallel fund vehicles from 260 investors. The offer is still ongoing, according to the company’s filing.
Limited partners include the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the Minnesota State Board of Investment, and Taiwan’s Cathay Life Insurance, said the report. Read more>>
Mumbai Property Sales Rise by 112%
The number of properties sold in Mumbai, India’s real estate capital, rose by 112 per cent in September from the previous month, according to figures released by the Maharashtra government.
According to official figures, 5,597 sale or conveyance deeds got registered with the state’s inspector general of registrations (IGR) in September as against 2,642 documents registered in August. Read more>>
Supply Chain Gaps Fuel India Warehouse Demand
India’s major warehousing hubs are set to see a rise in rentals as severe disruptions in supply chains due to the pandemic forces companies to keep inventory close to major consuming centres on hopes of a gradual recovery in demand.
Prime warehouse rents are expected to rise in Mumbai, Bengaluru and the National Capital Region—which make up about two-thirds of all warehouse stock in India, real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank said in a report last Friday. Read more>>
Jardines’ Keswick Family to Redevelop HK Home into MegaMansion
The plans are being drawn for another US$100 million mansion in Hong Kong, as the ultra rich in one of the world’s most expensive residential property markets managed to thrive amid the city’s worst recession in decades.
Descendants of the Keswick family, taipans of Hong Kong during the British colonial era and most closely associated with the Jardine Matheson Group, received approvals in July to demolish a property at 9 Big Wave Road on the Shek O peninsula. The family and Jardine’s 50.4-per cent owned Hongkong Land Holdings plan to redevelop the property into a single-storey mansion measuring 15,306 square feet (1,421 square metres), according to the city’s Buildings Department. Read more>>
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