Partners Group Buying Aussie Data Centre Player and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Swiss private equity firm Partners Group agrees to buy Australian data centre platform GreenSquareDC, with that acquisition leading today’s headline roundup. Also in the news, banks refuse to write mortgages for a China Vanke project in Hong Kong and shareholders approve Wee Hur’s Australia student housing sale to Greystar.

Partners Group to Invest $750M in Australia’s GreenSquareDC

Partners Group announced late last week that it is acquiring Australia’s GreenSquare Data Centers and plans to invest up to A$1.2 billion ($750 million) in the digital infrastructure firm.

GreenSquareDC recently acquired its first site in Sydney, a brownfield data centre with an existing powered shell and an adjoining landbank that will enable the campus to expand to 96 megawatts of compute capacity. The company has also secured land options on several sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth with domestic fibre connections and global connectivity via established and planned subsea cables. Read more>>

Some Hong Kong Banks Refuse Mortgages for China Vanke Project

Some banks in Hong Kong are not extending mortgages for China Vanke’s Le Mont project due to be launched in Tai Po, another setback for the embattled mainland developer battling a liquidity crisis.

Standard Chartered, one of the city’s three currency-issuing banks, and Chong Hing Bank were not accepting mortgage requests from potential homebuyers at Le Mont, according to property agents. Read more>>

Wee Hur Shareholders Approve Sale of Aussie Student Housing to Greystar

A majority of Wee Hur Holdings’ shareholders voted in favour of the sale of seven purpose-built student accommodation assets in Australia at an extraordinary general meeting held last month, according to a Monday bourse filing.

Just 0.07 percent of shareholders voted against the disposal. The group first proposed selling its Australian PBSA segment to GS Australia Student Venture I Mid Trust for a net consideration of A$355 million ($319.8 million) in December. Read more>>

GuocoLand Nabs $275M in Green Financing for Singapore Condo Project

GuocoLand has secured S$367.1 million ($275.3 million) in green financing from DBS to develop a residential project at Singapore’s Faber Walk site, which was awarded to its tie-up with joint venture partners TID and Hong Leong Holdings last November.

The green club facility was raised under its green finance framework, the Malaysian group said Tuesday. This adds to the group’s existing green facilities across its commercial and residential developments such as Guoco Tower, Guoco Midtown and Lentor Mansion. Read more>>

Singapore’s URA Names Ow Foong Pheng as Next Chair

The Urban Redevelopment Authority board will appoint Ow Foong Pheng as its new chair from 1 April. She will succeed Peter Ho, who has served in that role since April 2012, the URA said Wednesday.

As chair, Ho, who is 70 years old, provided insights to URA on its approach to land use and infrastructure planning and offered guidance through several rounds of the long-term plan and master plan reviews. As chair of URA’s International Panel of Experts, he also led professionals from around the world to improve urban planning in Singapore. Read more>>

Australia Pipeline of Student Housing Projects Jumped 19% in 2024 2H

The pipeline of dedicated student accommodation beds has jumped almost 19 percent in six months, with Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney accounting for the largest share of the growing market, new figures from the Property Council of Australia and consultancy Urbis show.

The increase of 5,605 beds in the second semester of 2024 to the pipeline of 30,000 in the first semester reflected the strong private sector appetite to keep purpose-built student accommodation even as both major parties promised to cut student numbers to relieve housing pressures. Read more>>

Politicians Propose Allowing Mainlanders to Pay Directly for Hong Kong Homes

Hong Kong’s representatives to China’s top legislature have submitted a proposal to set up a scheme to help mainlanders buy properties in the city through direct remittance.

The suggestion, along with another to promote carbon trading in Hong Kong, was endorsed by all 35 local deputies of the National People’s Congress on Tuesday as the annual political meetings known as the “two sessions” drew to a close in Beijing. Read more>>

China Housing Policy Updates Could Further Stress Developers

China is rolling out measures to improve the livability of mainland flats in an attempt to boost sales and shore up the slumping property sector, but analysts warned that the standards for “quality homes” could further strain cash-strapped developers.

This year’s government work report, an annual policy document delivered by Chinese premier Li Qiang during the March “two sessions” meetings that set the country’s policy playbook for the year, mentioned the term “quality homes” for the first time. Read more>>

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