Singapore Office Rents Slide 3.2% in Q4 and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Investors in Singapore’s commercial property sector got a bit of bad news today as a monthly index showed office rental rates beginning to fall more quickly in the city centre. Also getting some ink today, China Evergranded added $2 billion to its debt load at near credit card interest rates, while a developer backed by Singapore’s GIC announced plans for a new office park project in Chennai. Keep reading for all these stories and more.

Central Singapore Office Index Falls 3.2% in Q4 2019

Rentals of office space in the central region of Singapore eased 3.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2019 over the previous three months – a bigger drop compared with the 0.6 per cent fall in the third quarter of 2019, figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed on Thursday.

For the whole of 2019, the rental index slipped 3.1 per cent – contrasting with the increase of 7.4 per cent in 2018. Read more>>

India’s DLF Plans Rs 50B IT Park in Chennai

Real estate developer DLF, backed by Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC, is planning to invest 50 billion rupees to develop a 6.8 million sq ft information technology park in Chennai, making the south India city its second largest market after Gurugram.

The project, DLF Downtown Taramani spread over 27 acre is a joint venture with Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO). The proposed development along with DLF’s existing 7 million sq ft IT park at Manapakkam will take the company’s commercial portfolio in Chennai to nearly 14 million sq ft. Read more>>

Evergrande Borrows $2B at 12% Interest

Chinese property giant Evergrande Group is paying as much as 12% in its latest overseas bond issuance to raise $2 billion for debt repayment.

Hong Kong-listed Evergrande said in a filing that it would issue $1 billion of dollar-dominated three-year bonds with an 11.5% yield and $1 billion of four-year bond at 12%. Funds from the offering will be mainly used to repay debt and supplement operating capital, Evergrande said. Read more>>

Country Garden Lays Off 400 Staff in Malaysia

Country Garden Real Estate Sdn Bhd (Country Garden Malaysia) said the recent integration of its organisational structure, which resulted in some job cuts, will help the company to strengthen management control, improve efficiency and enhance operations.

The developer of the Forest City project in Johor said that as an organisation involved in real estate development and construction, the company requires the reshuffling of employees’ job scopes, and prioritises resources according to the annual business development direction and the cyclical characteristics of industry development. Read more>>

HNA Faces $500M in Bond Commitments This Week

Investors will be closely watching HNA Group Co. as $500 million of dollar bonds mature this week, testing the debt-laden Chinese conglomerate’s repayment ability.

A $200 million bond issued by HNA Group International will come due Jan. 23, while its $300 million note is set to mature a day later, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. HNA Group International declined to comment when reached by Bloomberg via email. Read more>>

India to Build 100 New Malls by 2022

Even though India is witnessing low consumer spending and a sluggish economy, mall developers expect a boom in organised retail. As many as 100 new malls are to be established across India by 2022, according to property consultant Anarock.

The malls will be spread across over 49 million square feet. The top seven metropolis alone will see 69 new malls, throwing open over 35.5 mn sq ft of space. The remaining 31 malls with over 13.5 mn sq ft of space will come up in tier 2 & 3 cities such as Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Indore, Surat, and Nagpur, Anarock said in a statement. Read more>>

Huawei to Show Off 5G Network at Wanda Malls

Huawei Technologies and Dalian Wanda Group have agreed to work together to build fifth-generation mobile infrastructure at Wanda Plazas, the real estate conglomerate’s mixed-use complexes, and promote the technology’s commercial application.

Under the deal signed in Shenzhen today, the two companies will jointly develop the technical plan for the 5G network architecture and promote the infrastructure’s construction, Wanda said in a statement. It did not disclose any financial details. Read more>>

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