Thailand’s Richest Man Plans $3.5 Bil Bangkok Project and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s news, the Thai billionaire behind Fraser & Neave and Centrepoint plans the kingdom’s biggest ever project next to Bangkok’s Lumpini Park, Beijing’s plans for a satellite city trigger China’s biggest land rush since we all still believed in the Shanghai FTZ, and Singapore developers find themselves forced into fire sales by new regulations. Read on for all these stories and more.

Thailand’s Richest Man Plans $3.5 Bil One Bangkok Project

Thailand’s richest man, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, is planning a $3.5 billion property development in central Bangkok that will include offices, homes and shopping malls.

Charoen’s TCC Group and its Singapore unit Frasers Centrepoint Ltd. will develop the project, said Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, group chief executive officer of Frasers Centrepoint. ‘One Bangkok,’ covering 16.7 hectares (41 acres), will be the largest mixed-use development in Thailand, he said. Read more>>

Plan for Beijing Satellite City Triggers North China Land Rush

A flood of bargain hunters has prompted local authorities to order a freeze on all property sales in a part of northern China newly earmarked to become a special economic district.

Officials from Xiong and Anxin counties imposed the ban after emergency meetings on Sunday morning about plans for Xiongan New Area in Hebei province about 160km south of Beijing. Read more>>

Change to Singapore Property Curbs Forcing Developers to Dump Homes

Singapore’s recent unwinding of some property curbs, which initially appeared to boost prospects for developers, may instead be creating new problems.

After regulators closed a tax loophole that allowed developers to offload apartments in bulk to institutional investors and wealthy Singaporeans, many of the city’s builders now face an unpalatable choice: discount unsold luxury homes or pay stiff penalties for missing government-mandated sales deadlines. Read more>>

Buyers Still Crowd Forest City Showrooms After Mainland Sales Shut Down

Sales agents in uniforms like the iconic kebayas worn by Singapore Airlines stewardesses were busy escorting home hunters around an unexpectedly crowded show-flat earlier this week at Country Garden’s mega Forest City project.

Despite reports of China’s capital controls hitting Chinese buyers of the US$100 billion (S$142 billion) Forest City development, it appeared to be business as usual on Wednesday afternoon. About 200 people were at the show-flat when The Straits Times visited. Read more>>

Singapore’s GIC in JV for Indonesian Mixed-Use Project

PT Intiland Development Tbk, a leading property developer in Indonesia, and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, have formed a 60:40 joint venture (JV) that will own and manages the integrated mixed-use complex, South Quarter. Financial terms of the JV deal are undisclosed. This collaboration follows the signing of a joint venture agreement in November 2016.

“This joint venture will leverage both our strengths and experience developing world-class property projects. It will also help to strengthen Intiland’s finances and project development,” said Archied Noto Pradono, Executive Director of Capital and Investment of Intiland. Read more>>

Soufun Nailed for Breaking New Beijing Property Regs

NYSE-listed Fang Holdings became the latest target of Beijing’s property crackdown, after a local unit had its real estate brokerage license revoked, in what amounts to the harshest penalty so far given to a real estate company for violating rules against marketing flats converted from commercial or office space.

The license cancellation is part of a clampdown on sales of “commercial-converted apartments”, flats that are built on land zoned for commercial or office use. The practise was until recently very common in major Chinese cities where residential land supply is disproportionately low. Read more>>

Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter for headlines as they happen.