Former Viva Land Hotel Back on the Market in Singapore and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

A Singapore hospitality asset with a colourful past leads today’s collection of real estate news from around the region, as a Robinson Road hotel hits the market after a quick refurbishment. Also making the list are the latest from WeWork India’s IPO and Japanese concerns over Aussie housing market rules.

Former Viva Land Hotel Back on the Market in Singapore After Refurbishment

JLL and CBRE have launched a campaign to sell a hotel on Singapore’s Robinson Road, according to a press release on Wednesday. The marketing effort comes less than two years after a local construction firm picked up what was then the Hotel Telegraph from a company linked to convicted Vietnamese swindler Truong My Lan.

Now rebranded as the QT Singapore, the 134-room heritage property has been refurbished after reportedly selling for between S$170 million and S$180 million in late 2023. An entity related to contractor Sunray Woodcraft Construction, which is controlled by Tan Teng Huat and family, acquired the hotel from Viva Land after Truong was jailed in October 2022.

WeWork India’s $338M IPO Squeaks Through on Final Day

WeWork India Management’s $338 million IPO was fully subscribed on the final day of bidding on Tuesday, driven by institutional demand even as retail investors stayed cautious about its steep valuation following recent co-working listings.

WeWork India’s IPO is seen as a test of investor appetite in the domestic co-working space, which has seen a spate of listings amid growing demand for flexible office space. The company will continue to operate under an exclusive licence from WeWork Global, the US firm once valued at $47 billion before it shelved its 2019 IPO. Read more>>

Japan’s Sumitomo Forestry Points to Barriers to Aussie Residential Investment

Japan’s Sumitomo Forestry has warned that Australia’s foreign investment rules, stamp duty regime and development approvals processes are getting in the way of investment in the residential sector as the country struggles to boost its supply of new homes.

Those barriers put Australia at a disadvantage as it competes for much-needed capital in the global market, the company’s Australian head, Yasuhiro Odagane, said Tuesday. Tokyo-listed Sumitomo Forestry last year took a controlling stake in Metricon, Australia’s largest homebuilder, and also joined a venture to develop a $1.2 billion portfolio of build-to-rent apartments. Read more>>

Norwegian Shipping Family Buys Singapore Condo for $14.8M

Singapore’s SC Global Developments has sold a 3,057 square foot (284 square metre) apartment at the freehold condominium The Marq on Paterson Hill at S$6,274 per square foot, amounting to a total of S$19.2 million ($14.8 million).

The buyer is understood to be the family of Kristian Jebsen, as they sell out of integrated global shipping company Gearbulk Holding. In January, the family completed the sale of a 23 percent stake in Gearbulk to Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines, which became the majority shareholder with a 72 percent stake, leaving the clan with a 28 percent stake. Marubeni Corp reached an agreement in June to acquire this share, upon fulfilment of certain preconditions. Read more>>

Son of Hong Kong’s Ex-Finance Minister Buys Luxury Flats for $9.4M

The son of former financial secretary Henry Tang has bought property in Kowloon, joining a growing number of affluent buyers snapping up homes in Hong Kong amid improving confidence in the residential market.

Two connected units at Wheelock Properties’ Kadoorie Hill luxury project were sold for HK$36.4 million ($4.7 million) each and handed over on 3 October, according to the Land Registry. Read more>>

Ares Boss Sees Risks in Data Centre Boom

The flood of capital pouring into AI infrastructure is raising the risks of overcapacity as the world’s biggest investors look to cash in on the artificial intelligence boom, according to Ares Management co-president Kipp deVeer.

“If you look historically in areas like this over the past 20 or 30 years, typically when this much capacity comes online, some of it at the end of the day has to be marginal,” deVeer said, speaking on the sidelines of the Greenwich Economic Forum in Connecticut on Tuesday. “These trends tend to lead to overbuilds in certain places, so us being selective and measured in what we build is important.” Read more>>

DLF-GIC JV Raises $124M to Refinance Debt

DLF Cyber City Developers, a joint venture of Indian builder DLF and Singapore sovereign giant GIC, has raised INR 11 billion ($123.9 million) through the issuance of non-convertible debentures to refinance higher-cost borrowings. The move is aimed at reducing interest expenses and optimising the company’s debt profile, a senior company official said.

According to a regulatory filing, the securities allotment committee of DLF Cyber City’s board approved the allotment of NCDs on a private placement basis to eligible investors with a coupon rate of 6.91 percent. The private placement approach allows DLF Cyber City to access debt capital efficiently while maintaining flexibility in structuring repayment schedules. Read more>>

Japanese PE Players Gain Support From Foreign Allies

Megumi Kiyozuka, president of ­Japanese private equity firm Sunrise Capital, began raising money for his latest fund last year with a goal of hitting $500 million. He’d yet to take his pitch on the road outside Japan before global investors told him they were willing to commit as much as $2 billion.

He decided to stick to $500 million — still plenty of money to put to work. It was a stark contrast to 12 years ago, when ­Kiyozuka traveled the world for an earlier fund, meeting 200 investors multiple times before finally cobbling together about $200 million from just two. “Years ago, people declined to invest in Japan because they said it was ­inefficient. Now everyone says they like Japan because it’s inefficient,” Kiyozuka says. “It’s the same reason, but it can be used as a reason to decline or to invest.” Read more>>

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