10% of Shops in HK’s Causeway Bay Now Empty and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

News from the world’s priciest shopping district leads today’s collection of Asia real estate headlines, as a new agency report indicates that nearly one in every ten shops in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay district are now empty.

While the retail readjustment continues in Hong Kong, further to the south, the recent optimism of venture-backed co-working providers is displayed in a report by Colliers showing that Singapore’s supply of shared office space has tripled within the last three news. Meanwhile, the southeast Asian financial hub’s best-known real estate fund manager is making encouraging remarks about a potential IPO.

We also have news of a Hong Kong developer breaking ground on commercial complex in Hangzhou and updates on a pair of office deals in India as you progress down the page.

One in 10 Causeway Bay Shops Now Vacant

One in every 10 shops in Causeway Bay now stands empty, as three months of protest rallies have deterred visitors from the world’s most expensive shopping district, adding to the woes of a retail industry that is already suffering from a weakening yuan and mainland China’s reduction of taxes on imports of luxury goods.

As many as 102 shops stood empty out of 1,087 in August in the district, or a vacancy rate of 9.4 per cent, according to data by the real estate agency Midland IC&I, which noted that the tenant-free rate may rise to 11 per cent next year, as “sentiment is worsening quickly” in the city. Read more>>

ARA Asset Management Hopes to IPO Within Three Years

Warburg Pincus-backed ARA Asset Management, one of the largest Asian real estate fund managers, is exploring a dual stock market listing, including one in Singapore, in the next two to three years, group CEO and co-founder John Lim said.

“A dual listing is a likely scenario. Singapore definitely will be one venue,” Mr Lim told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference organised by DealStreetAsia on Tuesday. Read more>>

Singapore Co-Working Space Has Tripled Since 2015

Co-Working spaces now take up 3.7 million square feet (sq ft) in net lettable area (NLA) of Singapore’s commercial space, tripling from 1.2 million sq ft in 2015 to become one of the top six occupier sectors, said Colliers International.

The top occupier sector in the Singapore CBD (central business district) Grade A office space are financial services, followed by professional services, technology, media and telecommunications, resources, energy and commodities, consumer, then flexible workspace. Read more>>

Hang Lung Breaks Ground on Westlake 66 in Hangzhou

Hang Lung Properties this week held the ground-breaking ceremony for its project Westlake 66 in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, marking the official debut of the company’s 11th large-scale commercial development on the Mainland.

Westlake 66 is situated at Bai Jing Fang in the Xiacheng District of Hangzhou, occupying the only remaining large-scale site for commercial development in the district, according to the developer. The site is approximately 44,800 square meters and when completed the project will cover a gross floor area of approximately 194,100 square meters. Read more>>

Blackstone Finalises $378M Acquisition of India Tech Park

Coffee Day Enterprises Limited’s (CDEL) sale of its prime real estate property Global Village Tech Park to private equity major Blackstone is now finalised, and may be announced as early as Tuesday.

“The transaction will involve an initial payment of Rs 2,000 crore in the coming weeks and the remaining Rs 700 crore will be paid within the next one year, once formalities on the demerger of the asset is done,” a source in the know told The Times of India. The deal is being done through a special purpose vehicle where Blackstone will own 80 per cent and the remaining 20 per cent will be held by southern developer Salarpuria Sattva. Read more>>

WeWork IPO Struggles Delay Buyout of India Operation

We Co.’s decision to postpone its much-awaited initial public offering (IPO) will also likely delay a plan to acquire majority control of its Indian affiliate to next year, said two people familiar with the development.

Earlier this year, We Co. offered to buy a 70% stake in WeWork India in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.75 billion, three years after it entered the country through a brand franchise agreement. Embassy Buildcon Llp, the holding company of WeWork India that is owned by Embassy Group chairman Jitu Virwani, would hold the remaining 30% stake once the deal goes through. Read more>>

Colony Capital’s Barrack Vows to Sell His Real Estate to Go High Tech

Colony Capital Inc. is making one of the most aggressive bets yet that technology is disrupting real estate: It is selling nearly all of its traditional holdings and channeling the money into property that focuses on the tech sector.

The Los Angeles-based real-estate firm is a global investor with $55 billion in assets under management. Colony aims to sell as much as 90% of its $20 billion property portfolio of hotels, warehouses and other commercial real estate by the end of 2021, company officials said last week. Read more>>

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

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