Blackstone Eyes $587M Loan for Paris Office Acquisition and More Real Estate Headlines

Blackstone pushes for a $587 million loan to fund its Paris office buy tops today’s roundup. Also in the news, Dexus picking up a stake in Westfield Chermside for $450 million, while Aware Super mapping out a $658 million expansion in European serviced apartments. Delays hit SoftBank and OpenAI’s $500 billion AI venture, and Singapore’s New Silk Road hedge fund winds down.

Blackstone Eyes $587M Loan for Paris Office Acquisition

Private equity giant Blackstone has tapped CBRE to arrange €500 million ($587 million) in debt financing for its planned acquisition of the Trocadero office complex in central Paris. This loan would be the largest financing for the acquisition of a single European office building since 2022, according to data compiled by Scope Ratings. 

Blackstone is said to have agreed to acquire the asset from German fund manager Union Investment for approximately €705 million ($827.6 million). Read more>>

Dexus Buys Quarter Share in Westfield Chermside for $450M

Dexus has agreed with Scentre Group to acquire a 25 percent stake in Westfield Chermside, Australia’s second-largest regional mall, for A$683 million ($450 million) in a transaction valuing the Brisbane property at over A$2.7 billion ($1.8 billion).

Scentre Group said the purchase price represented Scentre Group’s book value at June 30 and a valuation capitalisation rate of 5 percent. Read more>>

Aware Super Plans $658M Expansion for European Serviced Apartment Venture

The A$200 billion ($131.6 billion) Aware Super has taken majority control of a European serviced apartment operator and plans to grow it into a A$1 billion ($658 million) business over the next three years.

The strategy forms part of a broader push by Australia’s largest pension funds,  including AustralianSuper and HESTA, to increase exposure to global real estate, with a focus on residential and alternative sectors in Europe and the UK. Read more>>

SMFL-Backed ARAVest Said Near $157M Buy of Hotel Miramar Singapore

A deal is said to be in advanced stages of negotiations for a sale of Hotel Miramar Singapore at 401 Havelock Road, near the Singapore River.

The pricing for the 344-room hotel, on a site with a balance leasehold tenure of about 41.5 years, is expected to be below S$200 million ($157 million). The hotel has significant value-add potential, including an opportunity to tap some 100,000 square feet of unutilised gross floor area (GFA) and repositioning the asset to a more upscale product. Read more>>

SoftBank and OpenAI’s $500B AI Project Faces Delays Amid Early Struggles

A $500 billion AI infrastructure venture by SoftBank and OpenAI has yet to break ground on any data centres, despite six months after Masayoshi Son stood shoulder to shoulder with Sam Altman and President Trump to announce the Stargate project.

In a joint statement, the two companies said they were advancing projects in multiple states and were “moving at hyperscale and speed to deliver the AI infrastructure that will power the future and serve humanity.” Read more>>

Singapore Hedge Fund New Silk Road to Shut Down After AUM Drops

New Silk Road Investment, one of Singapore’s longest-running hedge funds, is shutting down after weak returns and a pullback by US investors in Asia led to a sharp drop in assets.

The firm, started by two finance veterans about 16 years ago, saw assets under management plummet to $615 million as at December, from almost $2 billion as recently as 2021. Read more>>

Wing Tai, CSI Announce Name for Commercial Project in Hong Kong’s Central

Real estate developer Wing Tai Properties announced a joint venture with CSI Properties, a 433,000 square foot (40,227 square metre) mixed-use development in the Hong Kong central business district set to be completed in mid-2026. 

The placemaking project, named Central Crossing, will deliver Grade A office space and retail components situated at the city’s cultural and lifestyle hub and connected to its key business and financial institutions, said Wing Tai Properties on Tuesday (Jul 22). Read more>>

Setia Bets on Melbourne Apartment Upswing With $75M Inner-City Deal

Malaysian property giant SP Setia has paid A$114 million ($75 million) for a major site in inner-city Carlton from a Chinese developer that had bought during the last property boom. The purchase is Carlton’s largest development site sale in more than a decade.

The site is part of a broader former CUB development site once controlled by Grocon but has since been developed out as high-rise units and student accommodation. Read more>>

Manipal Group Family Buys $7.4 Cr Luxury Apartment in Bengaluru’s Jayamahal

Shruti R Pai, wife of Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai, has purchased a ₹64 crore ($7.4 million) duplex apartment in Bengaluru’s Jayamahal Extension, one of the city’s most upscale enclaves.

The transaction was executed with Savyasachi Projects, represented by Parag S. Maniar and H. Vijayanath Hegde. The property is located in the exclusive Savyasachi Sarayu project, a luxury residential tower comprising limited high-end units. Read more>>

Mapletree Logistics Trust Distributions Dip 12.4%

Distributable income for Mapletree Logistics Trust declined 11.3 percent to S$92 million ($72 million) in the first quarter, from S$103.7 million in the same period the year before.

The decrease comes amid higher borrowing costs, which rose 2.3 per cent on the year to S$39.4 million, as well as the absence of one-off divestment gains that contributed S$5.7 million in Q1 FY2025, said the manager on Wednesday (Jul 23). Read more>>

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