After months of speculating whether Blackstone Group, Gaw Capital or a Chinese sovereign wealth fund would buy up the assets of Ascendas’ $1 billion hotel REIT, the Singapore-based real estate trust announced this week that no deal would be forthcoming. Over in New York, a local developer appears to be the first US builder to turn to the mainland for equity, debt and EB-5 financing, while in Suzhou, 40 developers competed to buy two parcels of land as the eastern China city hopes to catch the coattails of Shanghai’s real estate rebound. Read on for all the details.
Ascendas Hospitality REIT Cancels Planned Sale of $1B Hotel Portfolio
Ascendas has pulled the pin on a proposed sale of its $1.4 billion hotels platform and decided to retain the portfolio, despite receiving interest from some of the world’s biggest investors.
The Singapore-based REIT yesterday revealed it had withdrawn its listed Ascendas Hospitality Trust, which owns seven hotels locally as well as hotels in Asia, from a sales process and would instead focus on growing the portfolio.
“After evaluating the proposals, the managers have decided not to proceed, and have ceased all discussions in relation to, the transaction,” the group said. Read more>>
NYC Luxury Project to Stack EB-5 Funding on Top of Mainland Loan and Equity
A Renzo Piano-designed luxury condominium at 100 Varick Street could become the first major New York development to get debt, equity and mezzanine financing all from China.
Bizzi & Partners Development, Halpern Real Estate Ventures and Aronov Development are raising EB-5 funds for their 115-unit, 320,000 square-foot luxury condo development in Soho. The developers already secured a $320 million construction loan from Bank of China and a $135 million equity investment from Cindat, the U.S. subsidiary of Chinese investment firm Cinda Asset Management. Read more>>
UBS Says Oversupply Should Steer Investors Away from SG Market in 2016
Singapore is less likely to be on the radar of institutional real estate investors this year compared with other developed regional cities, especially those in Australia and Japan, said a UBS report.
It cited the oversupply in the office and logistics sectors here amid weak consumer sentiment and a housing market dealing with cooling measures. Read more>>
SG’s Croesus Trust to Buy Tokyo Mall for $30M
Croesus Retail Trust plans to acquire Fuji Grand Natalie, a suburban mall in Hatsukaichi City of Hiroshima for 3.3 billion yen (S$40.2 million).
Croesus has, through a special purpose vehicle, entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Grand Natalie Property TMK, Croesus said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Thursday (April 7). The purchase consideration represents a 6.3 per cent discount to the property’s 3.52 billion yen valuation. Read more>>
40 Developers Compete for Two Suzhou Sites as Market Recovers
Two land parcels in the eastern Chinese city went up for sale on Thursday. They drew more than 40 developers and sold at prices that far surpassed the city’s average home prices.
Modern Land China, a Beijing developer, paid an average of more than 28,000 yuan (HK$33,593) per square metre for land in the Gusu district. That doubled the city’s average selling price in March of 14,205 yuan per square metre. Read more>>
Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter for headlines as they happen.
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