Digital Realty Breaks Ground on Japan Project and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Japanese server sheds lead Mingtiandi’s roundup of real estate news from around the region today, with Digital Realty’s joint venture with Mitsubishi starting work on a 31-megawatt data centre east of Tokyo. Also making the list is an SGX-listed hotel REIT selling a pair of US hospitality properties and an April surge in Hong Kong home sales.

Digital Realty JV Starts Work on 31MW Greater Tokyo Data Centre

Digital Realty said Thursday that it has commenced construction of a third data centre at its NRT campus in Japan’s Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo.

Expected to open in December 2025, the company said its NRT14 facility will significantly increase its AI-ready infrastructure capacity in Japan. Developed by MC Digital Realty, Digital Realty’s 50:50 joint venture in Japan with Mitsubishi Corporation, the project is expected to add up to 31 megawatts of IT capacity, bringing the total at the campus to 104MW. Read more>>

ARA US Hospitality Trust Sells Pair of Hotels for $31M

ARA US Hospitality Trust announced to the Singapore Exchange on Thursday that it has agreed to sell a pair of Hyatt-branded hotels for a combined $31 million as part of a drive to dispose of assets seen as “non-core”.

The SGX-listed REIT said it is selling the Hyatt House Philadelphia Plymouth Meeting hotel, as it represents the third-lowest value in the trust’s portfolio and was operating at a below-average margin. The company cited limited upside for potential revenue growth as part of its rationale for the sale of the other hotel, Hyatt House Shelton in Connecticut. Read more>>

Hong Kong’s New Home Sales Hit Record High of $5.4B

New home sales in Hong Kong surged to a record high in April as buyers rushed to the market after the government removed property curbs.

The value of first-hand residential property sales reached HK$42 billion ($5.4 billion) last month, more than triple the value of transactions in March, according to Ricacorp Properties. That’s the highest in data going back to 1996. The number of sales at 3,545 was also the most since 2006. Read more>>

China Policy Easing Spreads as Hangzhou, Xi’an Scrap Curbs 

China’s efforts to revive homebuyer demand gathered steam on Thursday when two major cities scrapped all their remaining curbs on residential property purchases, a move that more local governments are expected to follow.

Developer stocks surged after Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang province, said it will remove eight-year-old restrictions on residential property purchases and no longer review the qualifications of homebuyers. Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province, announced similar steps hours later. Read more>>

Country Garden Says It Will Pay Onshore Coupons Four Days Late 

Embattled Chinese developer Country Garden said it is unable to pay onshore coupons due on Thursday but it aims to make the payment and additional interest incurred by 13 May, within the grace period.

The developer, which defaulted on its $11 billion in offshore bonds and extended its onshore bond repayments late last year, said in a filing that if it still failed to pay the coupons by the end of the grace period, state-owned China Bond Insurance would undertake the credit enhancement obligations as a guarantor. Read more>>

LHN’s Coliwoo, Oxley Boss Seal $19.5M Co-Living Acquisition in Singapore

A joint venture between LHN’s Coliwoo and Oxley’s Ching Chiat Kwong has bought Wilmer Place, a four-storey building at 50 Armenian Street in Singapore, for S$26.5 million ($19.5 million).

Wilmer and Sons sold the asset via an off-market private treaty exercise, exclusive marketing agent Savills said Thursday. Read more>>

Frasers Hospitality Trust H1 DPS Falls 13.7% on Higher Finance Costs 

Frasers Hospitality Trust recorded a 13.7 percent year-on-year drop in distribution per stapled security to S$0.01091 for its first half to the end of March.

Gross revenue for the half grew 1.7 percent year-on-year to S$63.3 million ($46.6 million). This followed a slight improvement in FHT’s hospitality portfolio performance due to travel recovery in most of its operating markets, its managers said Thursday. Read more>>

Prime US REIT Distributable Income Down 19.5% in Q1

Prime US REIT’s distributable income fell 19.5 percent year-on-year to $11.9 million in the first quarter of 2024.

The manager of the Singapore-listed REIT said in a business update Wednesday that the decline was because of lower revenue arising from lower occupancy, as well as higher finance expenses attributed to higher interest rates. Read more>>

Tune in again soon for more real estate news and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on X, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.