Capstone Buying Seoul Project From Mastern for $226M and More APAC Real Estate Headlines

Korean offices lead Mingtiandi’s review of real estate headlines from around the region today as a pair of asset managers trade a newly completed Seoul project. Also making the news are Link REIT’s effort to exit its first Australian asset and Korea’s Mastern hunting for capital backing as rival IGIS teams up with Hillhouse. 

Capstone Buying Seoul Office Project From Mastern for $226M

South Korea’s Capstone Asset Management has agreed to acquire an office project in Seoul’s Seongdong district from Mastern Investment Management for KRW 330 billion ($226.2 million), according to an account in Chosunbiz. 

With the unnamed 30,000 square metre (322,917 square foot) property set to open next to Seongsu station on Seoul’s subway line 2 within this month, Mastern acquired the project 16 months ago for KRW 310 billion. Read more>>

Link REIT Marketing Sydney Office Project for $390M as Focus Shifts to Retail 

Hong Kong’s Link REIT has put 100 Market Street in Sydney’s central business district on the market at a target price of more than A$550 million ($390 million), according to industry sources.

Link bought the 10-storey Grade A office tower from private equity titan Blackstone for A$683 million in 2019, with the pricing reflecting pre-COVID-crisis metrics. The Hong Kong group had mulled selling earlier and is now keen to exit as it switches focus to retail assets. Read more>>

Korea’s Mastern Seeks Minority Investor as Hillhouse Buy of IGIS Moves Forward

South Korea’s Mastern Investment Management is stepping up its search for a strategic No.2 shareholder to boost its capital resources and broaden its platform, as Zhang Lei’s Hillhouse Investment nears a $750 million deal to take over competitor IGIS Asset Management. 

Mastern’s leadership has ruled out a sale of a controlling interest and is said to have told market sources that it wants a minority partner that brings strategic value as it reinforces its balance sheet and deal-execution capabilities. Read more>>

Singapore’s Raffles Education Completes $94M Sale of 51 Merchant Road to LaSalle, Elevate

Raffles Education announced late last week that it has completed the S$121.8 million ($94 million) sale of the commercial building at 51 Merchant Road in Singapore’s Clarke Quay area.

The announcement comes three months after Mingtiandi reported that LaSalle Investment Management had teamed up with local player Elevate Capital to purchase the four-storey property. Read more>>

Gaw Capital Says Greater China Assets Fully Refinanced

Hong Kong fund manager Gaw Capital Partners announced late last week that it has completed refinancing for all of its properties in Greater China, including $550 million in mainland assets and another $1.87 billion in Hong Kong. 

The refinancing includes two Grade A office projects and a life science business park in Shanghai, as well as two Grade A office projects in Hong Kong. Bloomberg reported in November that Gaw had won a last-minute extension of a loan on a Shanghai office project. Read more>>

Hong Kong to Tender Nine Residential Sites as Housing Market Rebounds

The Hong Kong government said Friday that it will put nine residential sites up for sale in the coming fiscal year amid optimistic property market sentiment, with three from the Hung Shui Kiu pilot, reflecting the city’s commitment to developing the Northern Metropolis as a key growth area.

Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn said the total home supply is 6,650 units, among which the Hung Shui Kiu pilot will provide 3,120 units. In the government’s land sale list, three residential-use plots, including the Area 106A site in Tung Chung, the Cape Road site in Stanley and the Clear Water Bay Road site in Sai Kung, are rolled over from the past year. Read more>>

New World Declares $477M Loss for July-December Period

New World Development posted a loss in its first half as Hong Kong’s property downturn continued to weigh on the distressed developer.

The company lost HK$3.7 billion ($477 million) in the six months to the end of December, according to a Friday filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange. The loss was mainly driven by revaluations of investment properties and impairment of development projects. Read more>>

Hong Kong Tycoon Edwin Leong Sells Peak Apartment for $41M

Edwin Leong, chairman of Tai Hung Fai Enterprise Group and long dubbed Hong Kong’s “king of shops”, has sold an apartment in the ultra-exclusive Mount Nicholson enclave on The Peak, saying weak rental returns did not make it worthwhile to hold the property any longer.

Land Registry records show that Leong sold the 4,566 square foot (424 square metre) four-bedroom flat for HK$323 million ($41.3 million), or HK$70,740 per square foot. He bought the property in 2016 for HK$312 million. Read more>>

SC Capital’s Fusion Hotel Group Takes On Maldives Resort as First Project Outside Vietnam

Fusion Hotel Group, which was acquired by Singapore’s SC Capital Partners late last year, has signed a long-term management agreement with Real Asset Maldives to develop a new flagship Fusion Resort in the island nation. 

The upcoming Fusion Resort Maldives, expected to open in 2028, will be located in the Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll in the southern Maldives and will span a 1 million square metre (10.8 million square foot) lagoon anchored by a 1 hectare (2.5 acre) island and will include four reclaimed islands, featuring 185 luxury villas comprising 80 overwater villas and 105 beach villas. Read more>>

Tune in again soon for more real estate news and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on X, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.