Cheng Family Boosts NWS Stake in $4.5B Deal and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, the billionaire Cheng family of Hong Kong’s NWS seeks to privatise the group in a bid to pump liquidity into New World Development, and Japan’s Mori Trust makes its maiden New York investment in a Manhattan skyscraper. Also making the list is a new name for Evergrande’s Hong Kong headquarters and Australia’s AirTrunk launching a second data centre in Asia’s World City.

Billionaire Cheng Family Boosting NWS Stake in $4.5B Deal

Hong Kong’s billionaire Cheng family is offering to buy the NWS Holdings Ltd shares it doesn’t own in a HK$35.5 billion ($4.5 billion) deal that would help lower debt at its property conglomerate.

The transaction would in effect shift cash from the family’s investment holding company to its builder New World Development, which owns a majority stake in NWS and stands to receive about HK$21.8 billion from the disposal. Read more>>

Japanese Firm Mori Trust Buys Stake in 245 Park as First NYC Investment

SL Green Realty is selling a 49.9 percent stake in Manhattan’s 245 Park Avenue to a Japanese firm at a $2 billion valuation, with slated renovations to the ground-level components of the office building.

After acquiring the property in September 2022, SL Green’s first intention had been to reposition the 1.8 million square foot (167,225 square metre) property with the help of a joint venture partner, which it found in Mori Trust, according to the office landlord. Read more>>

Evergrande Hong Kong HQ Takes New Name From Jack Ma-Linked Entity

China Evergrande’s Hong Kong headquarters building — once a $1.6 billion jewel in the developer’s crown — remains without a buyer after nine months on the auction block, despite speculation that a sale was imminent after an exchange filing revealed a name change for the tower.

Rumours of a sale flared up after Yunfeng Financial notified the Hong Kong stock exchange on 23 June that the 27-storey building, on Gloucester Road in Wan Chai, would change names from China Evergrande Centre to YF Life Centre. Read more>>

AirTrunk Expands in Hong Kong With Second Data Centre

AirTrunk has announced plans to develop its second data centre in Hong Kong, supporting the demand for critical digital infrastructure in the region.

Named AirTrunk HKG2, the data centre will be scalable to over 15 megawatts and located in a new, major cloud availability zone in East New Territories. Initial capacity is expected to be delivered to the anchor tenant in mid-2024. Read more>>

HSBC to Leave Canary Wharf Tower for New Headquarters

HSBC is to move its world headquarters from its 45-storey Canary Wharf tower, possibly back to the City of London.

The banking giant is to move out of 8 Canada Square by 2027 when its current lease expires, after two decades. The shift is part of plans to downsize its office space following the COVID-19 pandemic, as the bank says it is now committed to flexible working. Read more>>

Residential Site on Singapore’s Chestnut Drive Going Up for Sale at S$22M

A Good Class Bungalow at 67 Chestnut Drive in western Singapore will be put up for sale through an expression of interest exercise on 3 July, according to marketing agent PropNex Realty.

The 999-year leasehold site has an indicative valuation of around S$22 million ($16.3 million), which translates to about S$1,515 per square foot on its land area of 14,526 square feet (1,350 square metres). Read more>>

Singapore Defies Slowdown as Hong Kong, NYC Struggle to Fill Skyscrapers

Singapore’s gleaming office towers are defying a global slowdown in commercial real estate, in a sign of the Asian hub’s continuing appeal.

Prime office rents in the city-state increased 2.5 percent in the first half of 2023. The overall occupancy level in the central business district in the second quarter reached 94.4 percent, edging up from the previous quarter, according to a report from Knight Frank Singapore. Read more>>

Macrotech Developers Emerges as Top Bidder for Mumbai-Based V Hotels

Lodha Group’s listed entity Macrotech Developers has emerged as the successful bidder for Mumbai-based V Hotels Ltd, owner of Tulip Star (formerly known as Centaur Hotel Juhu).

The creditor committee of bankrupt V Hotels has declared the developer as the successful resolution applicant in relation to the corporate insolvency resolution process of the hospitality company. Read more>>

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