Cromwell E-REIT Sells Euro Sheds to Blackstone for €66M and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

European real estate assets lead the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with the news that Blackstone has purchased a portfolio of light industrial and logistics properties on the continent from a Singapore-listed REIT.

In other news around the region, a mainland China developer has acquired 35 percent of a residential development in Shanghai for $515 million, while a Beijing-based state-owned corporation has won a $10 billion airport project with a Philippine partner.

Elsewhere, a US co-working giant launches a further 7,000 desks in India.

Cromwell E-Reit Sells 12 European Industrial Assets to Blackstone for €66M

Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust (Cromwell E-REIT) on Tuesday said it has entered into a master sale and purchase agreement with entities owned by funds advised by Blackstone affiliates, to dispose of 12 properties located in the Netherlands, Denmark and France.

The agreed property sales price of the portfolio is €65.7 million ($73 million), representing a 15.2 per cent premium over the original purchase price and a 4.1 per cent premium over the latest market value of the portfolio, based on independent valuations. Read more>>

Greentown China Pays RMB 3.6B for 35% of Shanghai Xinhu Pearl Town Project

Property developer Greentown China Holdings will spend RMB 3.6 billion ($514.5 million) to get access to a new residential project developed by a unit of Xinhu Zhongbao in Shanghai.

Greentown will purchase a 35 percent stake in Xinhu Real Estate Development for RMB 550 million and lend RMB 3.05 billion to the latter to repay debts and build Xinhu Pearl Town while gaining development rights to one part of the high-end project, the Hangzhou-based buyer said in a statement. Read more>> 

China’s CCCC, Philippines’ Macroasia Win $10 bil Manila Airport Project

China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) and Philippine partner Macroasia Corp have won an auction for a $10 billion airport outside Manila, the latest in a multi-billion dollar push by the Philippines to modernize and decongest its overstretched infrastructure.

CCCC joined airline service company Macroasia in a consortium with the Cavite provincial government to carry out the expansion of the Sangley Point International Airport, one of two big projects that aim to take pressure off the four terminals of Manila’s notoriously packed international airport. Read more>>

Overseas Investors Pull Back from Mainland China

Foreign investors’ purchases of mainland Chinese commercial real estate have fallen dramatically over the last year as global economic headwinds and slowing domestic growth have taken a toll on the market.

But as overseas funds have withdrawn, domestic buyers have been returning to the sector, according to property experts. Read more>>

WeWork Launches 7,000-desk Space in Hyderabad

American co-working office space platform WeWork today launched its first collaborative workspace in Hyderabad with a combined 7,000-desk (seating) spread across two large properties in Hitec City and Financial District.

The company said it chose to make an aggressive foray into the Hyderabad market in contrast to a gradual capacity build-up adopted for other Indian cities, as it was confident of quicker occupancy in this Southern city, which was recently in news for posting the highest office-space absorption in one quarter. Read more>>

South Korea Financial Regulator Warns of Property Bubble

aSouth Korea’s top financial regulator said on Tuesday that a property market bubble in the country could potentially burst, issuing a stark warning unlike other policymakers, who have avoided describing the frothy market as a full-blown bubble.

“It’s surely a bubble,” Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung Soo said during a year-end lunch meeting with reporters. “I am not saying prices will surely collapse, but I, as the FSC chairman, need to be prepared.” Read more>>

Singapore Easing Property Curbs Seen as Unlikely as Election Looms

Singapore is unlikely to ease property cooling measures as it heads into a high-stakes election that could take place in the first half of next year.

Although several developers, including second-largest City Developments, have called upon the government to loosen curbs to help fix an apartment glut, such a move could cost the ruling People’s Action Party votes. Relaxing property curbs risks sending prices spiraling, making it more costly for Singaporeans to own private apartments, analysts say. 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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