China Vanke’s JV with RFR for 100 East 53rd Street has headed to the courts
In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Chinese developer Vanke strikes back in court against its New York partners over their condo development deal gone sour, South Korea’s Meritz Securities faces its own Manhattan melodrama as the builder of a Midtown tower falls behind on loan payments, and China Oceanwide’s plan to buy a US life insurance giant dies a death.
China Vanke Sues US Partner Over Troubled NYC Project
The legal dispute between partners RFR Holding and Vanke US over their luxury residential condominium development in Midtown Manhattan just got a bit worse.
Vanke filed a lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court last week, claiming that RFR’s Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs missed nearly a dozen capital calls for their project at 100 East 53rd Street since 2019, court records show. As a result, RFR owes Vanke nearly $700,000, including interest, in the building expenses that Vanke covered for RFR, according to the suit first reported by Crain’s New York Business. Read more>>
Korea’s Meritz May Lose Out on $350M Loan for Manhattan Tower
South Korea’s Meritz Securities is at high risk of incurring losses from its $350 million lending on a luxury condominium tower in Manhattan after its developer has been several months behind on interest payments on the loan, according to investment banking sources this week.
In February 2020, Meritz provided a $350 million loan to the developer of The Centrale, collateralised on the unsold units of the 63-storey residential tower in Midtown East. The tower consists of 124 condo residences and retail space on the lower level. At the time of the investment, most of the condo units were unsold. Read more>>
China Oceanwide US Partner Axes $2.7B Merger Deal
More than four years after it was first announced, Genworth Financial’s plan to sell itself to a China-based investment company is officially dead.
The Virginia-based insurance giant said Tuesday that it had terminated its merger agreement with China Oceanwide Holdings, a Beijing-based company that agreed in October 2016 to buy Genworth for about $2.7 billion, or $5.43 per share in cash. Read more>>
Samsung Asset, Manulife IM Ink Strategic Alliance
Seoul-based Samsung Asset Management and Canadian counterpart Manulife Investment Management have signed a memorandum of understanding for a bilateral strategic alliance, Samsung Asset said Thursday.
The largest asset management firm in South Korea, overseeing some KRW 280 trillion ($250 billion) in assets, will team up with Manulife IM to explore opportunities in overseas alternative investing, private assets and specialised public market strategies. The partnership will also allow the firms to develop wealth management schemes and strategies that revolve around environmental, social and governance factors. Read more>>
Kaisa’s Nam Tai Property to Appeal BVI Court Judgement
Nam Tai Property today announced the filing of an application to appeal the 3 March judgement issued in a court in the British Virgin Islands. The judgement held that the private placement previously announced by the company on 5 October 2020 was void and should be set aside.
The company is appealing on the basis that the judgement discloses a number of significant errors and, in particular, a demonstrable failure to take account of important evidence. Read more>>
Changi Mall on Market for S$38M After Going Empty Since 2019 Opening
A Singapore mall that has remained empty since it was granted a temporary occupation permit in December 2019 has been put up for sale.
Liv@Changi mall along Upper Changi Road North is being marketed as a “brand new freehold three-storey commercial building” by real estate services company CBRE. Read more>>
Chip Eng Seng Unit to Sell Tanjong Pagar Shophouses for S$10.7M
A subsidiary of Singaporean developer Chip Eng Seng Corporation is set to sell two conservation shophouses along Tanjong Pagar Road and three units of shophouses along Geylang Road, the company said in an SGX filing on Wednesday.
CES Capital Holdings entered into a sale and purchase agreement to sell its properties at 84/A/B and 86/A/B Tanjong Pagar Road occupying an aggregate land area of 1,653 square feet (154 square metres), the company said. The purchase price is nearly S$10.7 million ($8 million). Read more>>
Hong Kong Developers Kick Off ‘Multigeneration’ Housing Projects
Sun Hung Kai Properties is kicking off Hong Kong’s first “multigeneration” housing project, offering facilities that cater equally for the young and the elderly, as the city’s largest developer adjusts its real estate designs to a rapidly greying population.
Up to 20 percent of the apartments at the developer’s proposed project in Tung Shing Lei, a seven-minute walk from the Yuen Long subway station in the New Territories, will be configured specifically for the elderly, with a wellness centre that sits alongside a kindergarten and a nursery, so that three generations of a family can have easy access to the facilities. Read more>>
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