Brookfield, LaSalle, Vlinker Lead Greater China Multi-Family Panel on Thursday

Greater China’s multi-family sector enjoyed its biggest year ever in 2022 in terms of trading in investment properties, and the momentum is set to continue with help from three industry players who will take part in Thursday’s session of the Mingtiandi APAC Residential Forum.

Joining Mingtiandi founder Michael Cole for a panel discussion on rental residential strategies in mainland China and Hong Kong will be Veronica Huang, senior vice president for real estate investment at Brookfield Asset Management; Selena Shi, managing director of acquisitions and RMB fund at LaSalle Investment Management; and Craig To, vice president and head of capital raising at Vlinker.

The one-hour session, which is sponsored by Yardi, will be viewable free of charge on Mingtiandi’s MTD TV video platform at 10am Hong Kong time on Thursday for registered Mingtiandi members. You may sign up to view via the link below.

The three panellists will discuss how China’s increasingly mobile population of professionals and rising housing prices are fostering the development of rental housing, with government incentives also encouraging the growth of the sector. The trio will also explain how the development of mainland REITs for affordable housing is supercharging investor interest in rental residential opportunities in China.

Asset Management Specialists

Huang leads Brookfield’s real estate investments in Greater China. Before joining the Canadian giant in 2015, she worked at Hony Capital, a Chinese private equity firm focusing on real estate and private equity investments, and on Citi’s investment banking team in Hong Kong covering the real estate and lodging sectors in Asia.

Toronto-based Brookfield, which manages assets valued at $750 billion globally, last September bought a serviced apartment development in Shanghai’s Yangpu district from a pair of mainland builders for RMB 1.26 billion ($180 million) as the first property in a new line of multi-family projects.

Shi joined LaSalle in 2015 and is responsible for the Chicago firm’s acquisition and asset management of commercial properties in China. She has over 15 years of experience in the real estate industry and has completed more than $3 billion worth of investments across the residential, industrial, commercial and multi-family sectors in China and Australia.

In November of last year, LaSalle added to its growing portfolio of China rental assets with the RMB 253 million acquisition of a 22-storey building in Yangpu district.

Vlinker’s To oversees fundraising and investment management at one of China’s largest rental housing asset managers and investors aimed at younger tenants.

In December, Warburg Pincus-backed VLinker opened a 3,000-unit greenfield development project in Shanghai’s Minhang district. The company now has 25,000 apartments under management through its asset-light operating platform and 30,000 apartments under management by its asset-heavy business.

Japan, Australia Headline Week 2

In its second week, the APAC Residential Forum will turn to the region’s most developed rental housing markets, Japan and Australia.

On Tuesday, 21 March, Mingtiandi’s panel on multi-family investment in Japan will look at how investors are turning to new segments of the market, such as student accommodation and senior living, for enhanced yields, while also finding ways to boost returns from more mainstream ventures.

The Japan panel will feature Jason Lee, managing director, senior portfolio manager, CIO and head of private equity for Asia Pacific at AEW, and Joel H Rothstein, shareholder and chair of the Asia real estate practice at international law firm Greenberg Traurig, as well as a senior director from Phoenix Property Investors.

In the Australia session on Thursday, 23 March, Mingtiandi will welcome Ben Taylor, director of housing for Asia Pacific at Nuveen Real Estate; Rushabh Desai, chief executive of newly formed investment platform Varsity Group Asia Pacific; and a senior representative from Phoenix Property Investors.