Alpha Data Centre Fund Buys Sydney Site for A$30M and More Asia Real Estate Headlines 

Sydney leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of real estate headlines today with the news that a Singapore-based data centre fund has spent $20 million to purchase a 3,840 square metre (41,333 square foot ) plot in the Australian city to build a new server shed.

In other news around the region, an Indian budget hotel chain has expanded into the co-working sphere with a $30 million acquisition, while a Singaporean hotel tycoon has bought up a second hospitality asset in Kuala Lumpur, and REITs in an as-yet restricted Southeast Asian market could be listed by the end of the year.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s richest lose $19 billion, with a number of well known property tycoons among them.

Alpha Data Centre Fund Buys Sydney Land Parcel for A$30M

Singapore-based Alpha Data Centre Fund has acquired a freehold site, Gore Hill Technology Park, on Sydney’s lower north shore to house its first data centre development in Australia.

The unlisted fund, established by Keppel Capital with backing from Canada Public Pension Investment Plan (CPPIB), paid more than A$30 million ($20 million) for the site, which is part of the wider Gore Hill estate. Read more>>

Suntec REIT-Mirvac JV Tops Out Melbourne Commercial Building

Mirvac Group and co-owner Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust have announced the topping out and completion of the main structural works at its Melbourne project Olderfleet.

The 38-level building at 477 Collins Street, Melbourne consists of 58,000 square metres (624,307 square feet) of premium-grade office and retail space and was designed by Grimshaw. Read more>>

Oyo Enters Co-Working Sector with $30M Innova8 Acquisition

At a press conference in New Delhi, Rohit Kapoor, CEO of New Real Estate Businesses, revealed Oyo’s plans of running 50 Oyo Workspaces centres by December. For 2020, the company wants to become the largest co-working business in Asia.

To achieve these ambitious goals, Oyo has acquired Innova8 for $30 million, a co-working start-up with more than 200 employees in 16 locations. This makes Innova8 the third in-house brand at Oyo Workspaces. Read more>>

Singaporean Tycoon Choo Buys KL Hotel

Swiss-Garden Hotel Bukit Bintang in Jalan Pudu here has a new owner. Hotel tycoon Choo Chong Ngen, Singapore’s tenth richest with a net worth of $2.8 billion, bought the property from OSK Holdings Bhd last year for RM 170 million ($41 million).

“The group decided to sell the asset as we were looking to rationalise our portfolio of properties. This is part of an ongoing group-wide asset review exercise undertaken by our parent company,” said Swiss-Garden International Hotels, Resorts and Inns’ chief operating officer Peter Gan. Read more>>

First Philippine REITs Likely to Be Listed by End of Year

The Philippines could see real estate investment trusts take off this year after the government amends a REIT law passed more than a decade ago, addressing investor concerns, say industry observers.

Reuters reported in April that Ayala Land, one of the Philippines’ largest developers, could raise $500 million in what would be the country’s first Reit offering. Taking into account Ayala Land’s proposal, existing cap rates in the market and the amount of assets that developers could divest through REITs using the minimum public ownership of 33 percent, the market could be worth around $8 billion to $9 billion. Read more>>

Hong Kong Hospitality Tech Platform Secures Series A Funding

Hong Kong-based hospitality guest servicing platform, StayPlease, has announced a USD seven-digit Series A round led by MindWorks Ventures.

StayPlease plans to use this funding to further expand its presence in Asia as well as upgrade its holistic product offering by enhancing features such as guest profile management, hardware integration, and voice recognition. Read more>>

Singapore’s APAC Realty Profit Falls 57%

APAC Realty, Singapore’s largest real estate agency, has posted a net profit of S$3.3 million ($2.4 million) in the second quarter, down 56.8 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Revenue from real estate brokerage fees and related services fell 30 per cent to S$84.8 million in the three months ended 30 June. Read more>>

Hong Kong’s Wealthiest Take a $19B Hit

Hong Kong’s wealthiest are feeling the pain from nine weeks of protests that have jammed the financial hub’s streets, weighed on growth and battered local stock prices.

The net worth of the 10 richest tycoons who derive their fortunes from Hong Kong-listed companies has tumbled $19 billion since 23 July, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 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.