Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray will have some fresh cash to deploy
The flood of capital searching for real estate opportunities leads today’s list of real estate news as Blackstone notches a new high water mark with a $20.5 billion final closing on its latest property fund.
The ongoing troubles in Hong Kong continue to generate discouraging headlines for the city’s developers as both Sun Hung Kai and Wheelock struggle this week to find buyers for their latest batches of homes.
Up in Shanghai, the city’s busiest shopping street is set to get stretched, and in India a JLL fund is making a bet on co-working.
Blackstone Raises $20.5B for BREP IX Fund
US private equity firm Blackstone Group Inc said on Wednesday it has raised the largest ever real estate fund, amassing $20.5 billion to be invested in property assets around the world.
Blackstone said in a statement the fund, named Blackstone Real Estate Partners IX (BREP IX), has already made its first investment: the purchase of U.S. industrial warehouse properties from Singapore-based logistics provider GLP for $18.7 billion. Read more>>
SHK Selling Kowloon Flats at 20% Below Market
Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, Hong Kong’s biggest developer, is offering new homes at a discount to entice buyers amid a worsening political crisis.
The first batch of units in the Kowloon development Cullinan West III have been priced at 20 percent lower than current market levels in the area. Read more>>
Wheelock Struggles to Sell Latest Batch of Homes in New Territories
A batch of new flats at a project in Tseung Kwan O failed to hit the mark with investors on Wednesday as sentiment continues to dwindle amid violent protests that show no sign of abating. By 8.10pm Wheelock Properties had managed to sell just 177 out of 318 units that went on sale at its Marini and Grand Marini projects.
Just 12 days earlier, buyers had snapped up 435 of 500 flats in the first batch at Marini. The contrast shows the alarming rate at which market sentiment is falling as the massive street rallies stretch into their 14th week. Read more>>
Luxury Rental Rates Drop by 30% for HK’s Poshest Pads
Hong Kong’s monthly leases for ultra luxury residences have fallen by almost a third, as three successive months of street protests and the ongoing drought of high-paying financial jobs have deterred expatriate and mainland Chinese renters.
Three-storey town houses of around 3,000 square feet (279 square metres) at the South District and on The Peak are now available for between HK$150,000 and HK$200,000 (US$25,000) per month, up to 30 per cent less than what they were going for three or four months ago, according to Louis Wong, senior director at Landscope Christie’s International Real Estate. Read more>>
Shanghai’s East Nanjing Road Walking Street to Stretch to the Bund
The Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall is to be extended eastward to the Bund to satisfy the growing number of shoppers and make it one of the world’s finest commercial walking streets.
Nanjing Road E., or “China’s No. 1 Street,” was originally built in 1851 as one of the city’s first modern roads. Initially, it will be extended to Sichuan Road M. from its current end on Henan Road M. and eventually to the Bund, said Chao Kejian, director of Huangpu District. Read more>>
JLL Venture Fund to Invest in Indian Co-Working Operator
Gurugram-headquartered flexible workspace provider Qdesq has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from JLL Spark.
The fresh funds will help the company invest heavily into the analytics capabilities of its technology platform. It will also allow commercial asset owners to create viable coworking and flex spaces within commercial complexes. NA Shah Associates and Fortitude Law were advisors to the transaction. Read more>>
Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.
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