Mapletree REIT Plans SG Tech Hub and More Asia Real Estate Headlines 

A Singapore industrial REIT’s plans for a $193 million high-tech complex near the city’s east coast lead Mingtiandi’s news roundup today, as the Southeast Asian financial hub’s Kallang area prepares for its latest upgrade.

Meanwhile the Lion City’s largest developer unveiled plans to put solar roofs on six of its buildings on the same day that it announced $220 million in green loans.

Elsewhere, a UK hotel investor who forrnerly worked with the famed Barclay brothers is targeted some scarcely used hotels and more mainland cities are building home price controls into their land sales.

Mapletree Trust Plans S$253M High-Tech District in Singapore

Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) plans to redevelop a flatted-factory cluster at Kallang Way into a high-tech industrial precinct at a total project cost of about S$263 million ($193 million), the manager of the Singapore-listed real estate industrial trust said.

This will be MIT’s largest redevelopment project to date, and is another strategic step in growing its high-tech buildings segment, the manager announced in a filing on Wednesday morning. Read more>>

UK Hotel Investment Firm Targets Anbang Portfolio

Richard Faber, a former lieutenant to the UK’s billionaire Barclay twins, is fronting an investor group that’s competing for a luxury hotel portfolio owned by Anbang Insurance Group Co, people familiar with the matter said.

A consortium backed by the British investor’s Spartan Advisors Ltd is among bidders that were shortlisted to make binding offers for the collection of 15 properties. Spartan has been seeking financing from sovereign wealth funds and wealthy individuals to back the offer, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Read more>>

CapitaLand Snags S$300M Green Loans, Plans Solar Rooftops

More than 21,000 solar panels will be installed on the rooftops of six CapitaLand buildings by the year end, in a partnership with Sembcorp Industries, both groups said separately yesterday.

The Singapore-based company also announced it has raised a total of S$300  ($220 million) in new sustainability-linked loans with Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, Natixis Bank and Societe Generale. The group will have the flexibility to use the loans on green projects and for corporate purposes. Read more>>

Banks Cut Hong Kong Home Valuations

Two of Hong Kong’s biggest commercial banks have cut their valuation of pre-owned homes in several housing estates in anticipation of declining prices, after the city was rocked over the past month by a record number of street protests.

HSBC and Bank of China (Hong Kong), two of the city’s three currency printing banks, cut their valuations for used homes in the New Territories and Kowloon by up to 3.6 percent, according to data on their websites. Read more>>

Mainland Cities Try Out New Land Sales Rules

Local authorities in many mainland cities are exploring new ways of awarding land to developers as they seek to curb property prices, throwing the spotlight on Hong Kong’s long-established practice of simply picking the highest ­bidder.

Among the new land sale models, some apply administrative limits on how much developers can charge for completed units as a way to help maintain ­affordability, while others include requirements for public housing or picking bidders offering close to an average price rather than the highest offer. Read more>>

Mumbai Residential Launches Jump 22%

According to a study of property trends by real estate consultancy Knight Frank India, Maximum city Mumbai saw residential launches up by 22 percent in the first half of 2019 while adoption was reported as up by 4 percent.

Launches in the first half of 2019 were estimated at 43,822, up by 22 percent from 35,874 in the first half of 2018. Housing units sold saw an increase of 4 percent for the first half of 2019 (33,731), up from 32,412 for the same period last year. Read more>>

Godfather of China Real Estate Says Property Market Curbs Play into Trump’s Hands

A key figure in China’s real estate market reforms in the 1990s has suggested the country should abandon restrictive policies that are strangling domestic demand, at a time when it is needed the most due to the ongoing China-US trade war.

Meng Xiaosu, dubbed the “Godfather” of China’s real estate industry because of his leading role in drafting China’s property reform policies, warned of the danger of continuing restrictive policies in sectors such as the all-important real estate market and the automotive market. 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.