Casino Prince Gets HK$500M HK Mansion for his Birthday and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

The son of a casino king leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today as the gambling parlour princeling gets a Hong Kong mansion for his 25th birthday.

In other news around the region, a British sterling denominated REIT has listed on the Singapore stock exchange, while an Alibaba-controlled furniture retailer is offering one-month rent waivers to tenants of its mainland China malls. Elsewhere, developers in Hong Kong offer rental reduction measures as fear of the coronavirus outbreak grips the Asian financial hub.

Casino Tycoon Stanley Ho’s Son Buys Hong Kong Mansion for HK$500M

Mario Ho Yau-kwan, the youngest son of billionaire casino tycoon Stanley Ho, has splashed out HK$500 million ($64.4 million) on a house at one of Hong Kong’s most prestigious addresses.

It may not turn out to be one of the 25-year-old businessman’s best timed investments. Within days of buying 2 Island Road in Deep Water Bay on January 7, the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, had snowballed into a dire health emergency, with the first reported cases in Hong Kong not far behind. Read more>>

Elite Commercial REIT IPO’s Public Offer Oversubscribed

Elite Commercial REIT’s bet to launch its initial public offering amid market uncertainty may have paid off, as its units were oversubscribed under the public offer.

When the offer closed on Tuesday, applications for about 47.85 million units were received for the roughly 5.73 million units offered to the public in Singapore, representing a subscription rate of 8.3 times. Read more>>

Red Star Macalline Offers One-Month Rent Waivers at China Malls

In the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Red Star Macalline, one of China’s largest furniture retailers, has announced one-month rent waivers for merchants.

The billionaire chairman of Red Star Macalline, Che Jianxing, is offering the assistance for 82 malls across the country, which will reduce the company’s projected net profit in 2020 by up to $61 million, which is equivalent to 9.6 percent of its full-year earnings, the company said in a statement. Read more>>

Adidas Closes Stores in China Amid Virus Outbreak

German sportswear company Adidas on Wednesday said it was temporarily shutting a “considerable” number of its stores in China due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The company said the fast-spreading virus was having a negative impact on its business but added that it could not yet assess to what extent. Read more>>

Hang Lung to Extend Rent Relief to Hong Kong Tenants

Hang Lung Properties has followed other mainland companies in halving rents for mainland mall tenants during the three weeks to February 14, and will extend the rent reduction measures in Hong Kong.

The company is to dish out RMB 10 million (HK$11 million) to establish a fund to help Hong Kong and the mainland tackle the Wuhan virus. Read more>>

Hmlet Adds 80 Rooms to Singapore Collection

Singapore-based co-living company Hmlet has signed a collection of properties in Tiong Bahru, bringing the number of properties it manages in Singapore to 48.

The properties occupy 18,000 square feet across seven locations: Hoot Kiam Road, Zion Road, Tiong Bahru Road, Moh Guan Terrace, Chay Yan Street, Tiong Poh Road and Guan Chuan Street. Read more>>

Bangalore Property Market Shines Amid Booming IT Sector

Riding on continued wave of growth in IT/ITeS sector, Bangalore’s realty market bucked the trend ending 2019 on a high note with supply in the affordable segment nearly doubling from previous calendar year, according to residential real estate advisory firm Trespect India.

With a 14 percent decline in unsold inventory in the residential space and now accounting for just 9.6 percent of the total unsold inventory across top seven cities (Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, MMR, NCR, and Kolkata), Bangaore’s inventory overhang now stands at 15 months, the lowest amongst metro cities, it said. Read more>>

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