China Orient Predicts Surge in Bad Real Estate Loans and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

China’s turbulent financial markets lead today’s real estate news from around the region as one of the mainland’s four major “bad asset banks” predicts trouble for overstretched developers. Despite the turmoil further north, investors in Singapore are still showing enthusiasm for tourism assets and HNA even found some cash it could return to shareholders. All the details on these stories and more await you below.

Chinese “Bad Bank” Predicts Surge in Bad Real Estate Loans

Signs of pressure on China’s property market are deepening, with a report saying that soured loans from the industry could put “significant stress” on banks and a state researcher warning of accumulating risks in a sector that underpins the economy.

The value of bad loans from the real estate industry will increase by at least 20 per cent this year, China Orient Asset Management Co said in its latest annual survey. Read more>>

8M Real Estate Buys Singapore Heritage Hotel for S$37M

Wanderlust Hotel, a boutique hotel on Dickson Road, off Jalan Besar in Little India, has just changed hands for $37 million. The buyer is 8M Real Estate, a boutique real estate investment firm founded by its managing director Ashish Manchharam.

The property occupies a freehold, 4,639 sq ft site, with a gross floor area of about 15,500 sq ft. Based on the GFA, the price translates into $2,387 psf. The vendor is Loh Lik Peng, director of the Unlisted Collection, and the deal was brokered by Simon Monteiro, associate director of heritage buildings at Savills Singapore. Read more>>

Pantheon Opens Tokyo Office

Private equity fund manager Pantheon Group has opened an office in Japan, appointing former Nippon Life Insurance executive Akitoshi Yamada to run the new Tokyo outpost as managing director, according to an announcement by the London-based arm of NYSE-listed Affiliated Managers Group.

The company has recruited a three-person local team to seed its operation in Japan. “We are humbled to have been chosen by our Japanese clients to manage their private asset programs and look forward to furthering long and prosperous relationships,” Pantheon managing partner Paul Ward said in an announcement. Pantheon has maintained a presence in Asia since 1992 with Hong Kong-based Brian Lim serving as a partner and head of Pantheon’s Asia and Emerging Markets Investment teams. Read more>>

HNA’s HK Development Unit to Return HK$800M to Shareholders

A subsidiary of embattled Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, Hong Kong International Construction Investment Management Group, said it expected to return at least HK$800 million (US$102 million) to shareholders after selling assets including land at a residential property site in Hong Kong.

In a filing to the Hong Kong exchange, the company said the gain mainly came from selling land at the former Kai Tak airport site in Hong Kong as well as property development projects in Shanghai and Tianjin. Read more>>

Chen Feng Flies Solo at HNA After Partner Follows Company Off a Cliff

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group has announced that co-founder Chen Feng will become chairman of the company, assuming the duties of former co-chairman Wang Jian, who died earlier this week during a trip to France after falling 15 metres onto rocks in an accident.

Chen, who held the post of co-chairman along with Wang, was appointed by the board after a meeting on Thursday, the company said in a statement on Friday. Read more>>

Transplanted Chinese Developer Adds Aussie Faces to Board in Expansion Drive

The emerging Chinese property development giant Aqualand has appointed a heavyweight advisory board including former Liberal politician Warwick Smith, chairman of the Australia China Council, and who already sits on the boards of ANZ Bank China.

The former Tasmanian will become executive chairman of Aqualand, AL Capital and chair of the advisory board. Smith joins the influential company director Gabrielle Trainor and former Multiplex chairman Ross McDiven on its advisory board as the company flags ambitions to become one of Australia’s largest developers. Read more>>

Mainland Developers Seen Facing Challenges in India

Two years after announcing grand plans for India, leading Chinese developers Country Garden, Dalian Wanda and China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) are staring at uncertainty.

Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed Country Garden, which opened several offices across India, has cut staff by more than half, a person aware of the matter said on condition of anonymity. Several top Chinese officials have left and its Pune and Hyderabad offices have been closed, the official said on condition of anonymity. Read more>>

Hong Kong Decides 25-Storey Factory May Not Fit the Quarry Bay Waterfront

A walkway overlooking Hong Kong’s iconic Victoria Harbour has been saved from demolition thanks to a government offer that persuaded the landlord to scrap a controversial plan for a 25-storey factory.

The 10-metre-wide promenade along Hoi Yu Street on the Quarry Bay coast will instead undergo upgrades for leisure and tourism purposes, according to the landlord’s latest plan revealed by the Development Bureau on Thursday. Read more>>

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