Mitsubishi Estate president and CEO Atsushi Nakajima
Another potential Aussie exit for Mitsubishi Estate leads real estate news from around the region today as the Japanese giant looks to cash in its stake in a rental housing venture. Also making the list is an industrial site sale near Melbourne and Australian Super’s purchase of student housing in Northern Ireland.
Mitsubishi Estate Marketing Half-Stake in Aussie Land Lease Venture
Mitsubishi Estate is moving to sell its 49.9 percent interest in the Stockland Residential Rental Partnership amid surging investment interest in Australia’s land lease communities sector.
The portfolio includes six new operational land lease communities comprising 2,025 homes across southeast Queensland and Melbourne. Mitsubishi Estate is also in talks to sell its half-stake in Sydney’s Salesforce Tower to Singapore’s OUE REIT. Read more>>
Family Office Buys Melbourne Industrial Site for $193M
Yale Investment Group, the family office of Andrew Sirianni, has bought a 259 hectare (640 acre) Melbourne industrial development site from Sandhurst Retail & Logistics for A$275 million ($193.4 million).
Yale is said to be planning to develop a business park across 118 hectares of the site, with Sandhurst having previously master-planned a 700,000 square metre (7.5 million square foot) project on the plot with a potential end value of A$2 billion. Read more>>
Australian Super Buys Belfast Student Housing for UK Living Platform
A student accommodation scheme in Belfast has been acquired by the largest superannuation fund in Australia. Australian Super bought the 253-unit purpose built student accommodation development at Botanic Link in December.
Better known as Aster House, it was acquired from Harrison Street Asset Management as part of a package of six UK PBSA properties for Australian Super’s new £560 million ($768.2 million) UK Living platform. Built over the railway tunnel on the ground between University Road and Botanic Avenue, Aster House was developed by Harrison Street in partnership with Chicago-based CA Ventures, which launched the Novel Student platform in 2020. Read more>>
Quek Leng Chan Launches Buyout Offer for Malaysia’s Guocoland
Billionaire Quek Leng Chan’s Guocoland Ltd offered to buy out minority shareholders in its property developer unit in Malaysia, citing a need for greater flexibility to streamline operations.
The Singapore-listed builder controlled by the billionaire offered MYR 1.10 per share in Guocoland Malaysia Bhd a 17.6 percent premium to the last-traded price on 30 January. Minority shareholders, who hold about 35 percent of the stock, would receive MYR 269.4 million ($68.5 million). Read more>>
Oaktree Veteran Ramps Up Hong Kong Distressed Asset Bets
Blue Mountain Bridge Capital Opportunities Fund, a Hong Kong-based venture led by Oaktree veteran Raymond Chan, expects to double its lending to distressed property owners by the end of this year.
Chan, who was previously co-head of Oaktree Capital Management’s Asia distressed debt business, is betting that the city’s commercial property market has bottomed out and will increase the fund’s invested capital from $75 million to $150 million by the end of 2026, according to a Bloomberg account citing informed sources. Read more>>
Australia to Sell $2.1B in Historic Buildings to Fund Defence
Australia plans to sell more than 60 buildings and other properties across the country to help fund the current major expansion of defence capabilities, with the government estimating the sales could generate A$3 billion ($2.1 billion).
The properties include a golf course and historic barracks in major cities across the country, which a Defence Department audit identified as surplus to requirements or too expensive to maintain. The sales announced Wednesday should generate A$1.8 billion in net revenue after relocating staff, based on 2023 estimates of the value of the properties. Read more>>
Sun Hung Kai Properties Director Resigns After Corruption Report
Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong’s largest developer by market capitalisation, said executive director Maureen Fung resigned with immediate effect on Tuesday due to health issues, according to a stock exchange filing.
Her resignation came a day after a Reuters report and local media cited sources who said Fung had been suspended by the developer since last week in connection with an alleged corruption case related to a shopping mall in Shanghai. Read more>>
GIC Expects to Grow Japan Headcount by 50% in Three Years
GIC wants to deepen its presence in Japan together with its partners and expects to grow the number of its staff there by nearly 50 percent over the next three years, the sovereign fund’s CEO said this week.
Lim Chow Kiat was speaking at the launch of GIC’s expanded and relocated office in Tokyo’s main financial district, where the fund has over 20 investment officers. “Japan is at an interesting stage,” Lim said. “Inflation expectations have lifted, and reflation and wage growth are finally occurring in a sustainable manner.” Read more>>
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