Regulators Block Loans for CK Asset Chengdu Deal

Li Ka-shing can wave his Chengdu deal goodbye

China’s “three red lines” rules introduced last month appear to already be having an impact with Li Ka-shing’s sale of a Chengdu project said to be endangered by the new guidelines on restricting credit to indebted developers, according to a report today.

Also in today’s real estate headlines, the manager of a Singapore hospitality REIT appear to be cutting ties with the trust’s sponsor in the US, and Henderson Land unveils the design for its Murray Road project in Hong Kong.

Regulators Said Blocking Loans for CK Asset Chengdu Deal

China’s financial regulators have instructed banks to pull credit lines meant to finance the HK$2.5 billion ($323 million) sale of a Chengdu property by CK Asset Holdings Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.

Billionaire Li Ka-shing’s firm said in July that it planned to sell its subsidiary developing residential complexes in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the sprawling southwest city, and would provide financing for the buyers to complete the transaction. Read more>>

Eagle Hospitality Trust to Scrap Master Leases for US Hotels

Troubled Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT) has issued termination notices to the master lessees of all its 18 properties, describing the current arrangement as unviable. They cited a “multitude of defaults” by the master lessees, which are part of EHT’s sponsor Urban Commons.

The defaults cited include substantially unpaid monthly fixed rent, variable rent and additional rent from January to last month for all properties, repeated failures to pay outgoings such as insurance premiums and the failure to pay the full amount of the security deposit by the due date for most of EHT’s hotels. Read more>>

Singapore’s Elite Partners Buys Four UK Commercial Properties for $89M

Elite Partners Capital has bought four UK commercial properties for around 70 million British pounds ($89.07 million) via its UK Commercial Fund III, the Singapore-based private equity real estate firm said in a statement on Wednesday.

Against the backdrop first of Brexit and more recently, COVID19, we remain committed to the UK commercial property market, which continues to offer interesting acquisition opportunities,” Victor Song, CEO of Elite Partners, said in the statement. Read more>>

Zaha Hadid’s Firm Unveils Designs for Henderson’s 2 Murray Road in HK

Zaha Hadid Architects has revealed its design for the 36-story Murray Road project for Henderson Land, in the heart of Hong Kong’s central business district. Creating new civic plazas enveloped by nature, the urban oasis is located in proximity to both Central and Admiralty MTR metro stations.

Replacing a multi-story car park, the development is connected to adjacent public gardens and parks, through an elevated base sheltering courtyards cultivated with trees and plants. These outdoor areas seamlessly flow into the communal spaces of the interior. Inspired by the structural forms and layering of a Bauhinia bud about to blossom, known as the Hong Kong orchid tree, the design generates a very wide span of naturally lit, column-free, Grade A office space with a 5-meter floor-to-floor height giving maximum flexibility. Read more>>

Singapore’s QIP Launches S$52M UK Student Housing Fund

Despite Covid-19 showing no signs of abating in the UK – with the country experiencing a second wave of infections and several cities plunging back into lockdowns – a Singapore-based private equity firm has set its sights on the student accommodation sector there.

Q Investment Partners (QIP) on Thursday launched a £30 million (S$52.13 million) UK purpose-built student accommodation investment fund, the firm’s largest fund to date. Read more>>

Swire Properties to Launch Wanchai Residential Project in Q4

Hong Kong developer Swire Properties said on Wednesday it will put its Eight Star Street residential project on sale in the fourth quarter this year at the earliest.

The site in Wan Chai, formerly known as 21-31 Wing Fung Street, is being redeveloped into a 24-floor, 34,000 sq ft residential building with retail outlets on two base levels. Work is in progress on its superstructure. Read more>>

GuocoLand to Sell SH Building at Post-Tax Loss in RMB 610M Deal

Mainboard-listed developer GuocoLand is selling a building in Shanghai in a loss-making deal inked on Wednesday, the company has disclosed.

Wholly-owned Shanghai Xinhaolong Property Development Co will sell the former Guoson Mall, which is part of the Guoco Changfeng City project, for 610 million yuan (S$124.3 million) in cash to third-party buyer Shanghai Changfeng Investment (Group) Co. Read more>>

APAC Offices Markets More COVID Resistant Than US, Europe

The Covid-19 recession will have a more benign and shorter-lived impact on the office leasing market in the Asia-Pacific (Apac), excluding Greater China, than elsewhere around the world, while the region will take just a marginal hit from the work-from-home phenomenon.

That’s according to real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), which noted that all Apac economies are set to see gross domestic product (GDP) return to pre-Covid levels by the third quarter of 2021 in the baseline scenario. Read more>>

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