Google Gets Green Light for $850M Taiwan Data Centre and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

An Internet giant leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of real estate headlines today as the company wins approval to develop an $850 million data centre in Taiwan, its second in the country.

In other news around the region, a property tycoon in Hong Kong has resorted to turning his unsold luxury apartments into co-living quarters as the implementation of a new vacancy tax looms, while a mainland China developer’s LA project grinds to a halt as financing dries up.

Elsewhere, home sales have doubled in Hong Kong after the mortgage ceilings were raised to make it easier for people to buy a home (and get into more debt).

Google Gets Green Light for $850M Taiwan Data Centre

Google has won approval from Taiwan’s government to build a second data centre in the country at a cost of around $850m.

Although Google hasn’t confirmed the decision, Taiwan’s Investment Commission said Google’s approved outlay will expand its data centre operations in the country, including the purchase of related equipment. Read more>>

Oceanwide’s $1B LA Tower Grinds to a Halt as Cash Dries Up

It’s meant to be one of the crown jewels of downtown Los Angeles’ urban renaissance but now it’s in limbo – plagued by lawsuits from subcontractors, and victim of an ongoing trade dispute between China and the US and a Beijing crackdown on credit and capital flight.

Construction has largely stalled at the three towers of Oceanwide Plaza across from Staples Center where the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers and the NHL’s Kings play their home games. Read more>>

Property Tycoon Turns Hong Kong Luxury Flats into Co-living Units

Billionaire Cecil Chao Sze-tsung’s Cheuk Nang (Holdings) is offering seven flats at its One Kowloon Peak luxury residential project as co-living units in a bid to avoid vacancy tax amid downbeat sentiment.

“The penalty is quite high if you do not lease them. If it [vacancy tax] is really implemented, the impact on Hong Kong’s developers will be very big,” said Chao, 83, chairman of Hong Kong-listed Cheuk Nang in an exclusive interview with the Post. “As a developer, we definitely oppose it, especially when the market is not really booming.” Read more>>

Home Sales Double in Hong Kong Following New Mortgage Rules

Hong Kong’s move to make it easier for first-time home buyers to break into the world’s least-affordable housing market has had an immediate effect, with sales surging in the past two weeks.

Sales in the secondary market have more than doubled since mortgage rules for first-time buyers were eased in mid-October, Midland Realty said. Read more>>

Work Begins on 3D Printed Office Building in Guangdong

The work for what is believed to be one of the largest two-storey buildings built using 3D printing started in Heyuan, Guangdong province, on Monday.

Loaded with a concrete mixture the printer will produce, layer-by-layer, the walls and structural columns of the building. Read more>>

Manulife US REIT Completes $198M Acquisition of California Office

Singapore-listed Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust said it has completed its purchase of a Class A office building in Sacramento, California.

The pure-play US office REIT had announced the $198.8 million acquisition of 400 Capitol Mall in September. 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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