CapitaLand Signs Up for East China Business Park and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s roundup, Singapore’s largest property firm CapitaLand may be getting into the business park business in eastern China, after signing agreements to explore building a high-tech park in Ningbo along with a township development in Jiaxing. Another Singaporean giant also makes the headlines, with a Mapletree-managed property trust raising funds for a slew of commercial building deals in Tokyo, while the Chinese government is pressing on with a campaign to promote rental housing. There’s more below, including some retail news out of Tokyo’s Ginza district, so keep on reading.

CapitaLand Eyes Business Park, Township Projects in East China

CapitaLand is set to broaden its master planning and urban design capabilities in China through new strategic partnerships in Ningbo and Jiaxing – two fast-growing cities in Zhejiang Province, east China. Through its wholly owned subsidiary CapitaLand China, CapitaLand has signed two Memoranda of Understanding to explore developing and managing large-scale business park and township projects in line with a new direction in China’s urbanisation drive emphasising integration between industrial and urban development.

The signings took place this morning in Zhoushan at the 13th Singapore-Zhejiang Economic and Trade Council meeting co-chaired by Ms Sim Ann, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, and Culture, Community and Youth; and Mr Zhu Congjiu, Zhejiang’s Vice Governor. Read more>>

Mapletree-Managed Trust Raises $249M for Tokyo Deals

Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust (MGCCT) has raised S$330.3 million ($249 million) from a placement of 312 million units at S$1.06 apiece, near the middle of price talk. The property trust had indicated a price range of S$1.043 to S$1.081 per unit on Wednesday night.

Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust Management intends to use the proceeds to finance part of the total acquisition cost relating to six freehold commercial real estate assets located in Tokyo. Read more>>

China Plans Pilot Rental Housing Trust

China Wednesday announced plans to allow the issuance of securities backed by residential rental properties amid its drive to foster the growth of rental housing market.

The country will encourage companies to conduct rental housing asset-backed securitization and strengthen supervision of such securities to contain risks, according to a document jointly issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development and China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The issuance of real estate investment trust (REIT), a means of property asset securitization for companies to raise funds, will be piloted. Read more>>

Tag Heuer Opens First “Modular” Store in Tokyo

Japan is well known for all things modern and innovative, so when it came to Tag Heuer’s new boutique concept in the heart of Tokyo’s Ginza district, the brand decided to follow a path of avant-garde design and revolutionary technology to enhance the customer experience.

The entire store is designed to be entirely modular, meaning that each and every section, from the façade to the display cabinets, is moveable, changeable and interactive. As well as the boutique’s dedicated staff, digital displays offer customers the chance to purchase directly from an iPad and view full digital catalogues alongside the stock on show, offering full immersion into the Tag Heuer world. Read more>>

Oceanwide Partners with Aliyun on Wuhan Smart City

Aliyun, the cloud computing unit of Chinese online retail giant Alibaba, has inked a framework agreement with Beijing-based developer Oceanwide Holdings, regarding a smart city project for central China’s Wuhan City.

The inking of the deal comes in the wake of the Chinese online retailer confirming that it had entered the driverless car space and was already carrying out tests. In so doing Alibaba now joins other Chinese tech giants such as Tencent and Baidu. According to a spokesperson for Alibaba, the online retail giant intends to hire about 50 more autonomous car specialists for its artificial intelligence research lab. Read more>>

Malaysia Plans to Double KL Airport Capacity to 150M

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd plans to double Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s capacity as it seeks a bigger slice of the 2.1 billion more passengers expected in Asia Pacific in the next two decades.

The company is looking to raise the capacity to 150 million, from the current 75 million, in the next 10 to 20 years, Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin, chief financial officer of Malaysia Airports, said in an interview on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. Read more>>

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