Yuhu Set to Invest A$2.8B in Former Wanda Aussie Projects

Yuhu Group’s Huang Xiangmo has got his hands on Wanda’s Aussie assets

An investor known better for his political involvement than his investment projects finds his way back into the news today as Australian-Chinese real estate developer turned political donor Huang Xiangmo closes on the purchase of A$2.8 billion in real estate projects from Dalian Wanda. Also in the headlines, Singapore’s Perennial picks Kempinski to manage its heritage hotel project in the city state, and the man who gave Beijing its big pants has been appointed to design a building in Hong Kong’s Kai Tak. Keep reading for all these stories and more.

Huang Xiangmo’s Yuhu Says It Will Invest A$2.8B in Former Wanda Projects

Controversial Australian-Chinese investor Huang Xiangmo’s Yuhu Group has confirmed the final closing of its purchase of real estate projects in Sydney and Surfer’s Paradise from Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group.

Huang, whose name has highlighted reports of alleged influence-buying among Chinese-backed groups in Australia, now says that Yuhu Group will invest A$2.8 billion (US$2.1 billion) in developing the One Circular Quay project in Sydney and the Jewel project in the Gold Coast city of Surfer’s Paradise, according to a release on Friday, by Yuhu Group. Read more>>

Perennial Picks Kempinski to Manage Capitol Singapore Hotel

Perennial Real Estate Holdings has appointed Europe’s luxury hotel group, Kempinski Hotels SA, to operate The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore at Capitol Singapore – a heritage lifestyle integrated development in Singapore’s downtown Civic District.

Comprising three heritage buildings, Capitol Singapore houses the shopping and dining destination Capitol Piazza, the iconic Capitol Theatre, the Eden Residences Capitol luxury apartments, as well as the upcoming The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore, which will be Kempinski’s flagship hotel in Singapore. Read more>>

Designer of Beijing’s Big Pants Brings His Act to Hong Kong

The Dutch firm headed by “starchitect” Rem Koolhaas this week revealed details of its first Hong Kong project: the Sogo “twin towers” at the site of the former Kai Tak airport for which Lifestyle International paid HK$7.4 billion (US$943 million) in 2016.

Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is best known in Asia for large public commissions, such as the CCTV headquarters in Beijing – nicknamed “Big Pants” for its unusual shape – and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange building with its floating base. Read more>>

Frasers Hospitality Grows Mainland Footprint With Dalian Opening

Frasers Hospitality, a member of Frasers Property Group, celebrated the grand opening of Fraser Suites Dalian last week, a month after it soft-opened. The Liaoning project follows on the heels of four properties that opened in Changsha, Tianjin and Shenzhen last year.

The global hospitality operator says it will grow its inventory by around 85% over the next few years, expanding to 30 properties across China. Read more>>

White & Case Finds That Investors Like Data Centres

The startling growth in cloud services and China’s booming e-commerce sector has fuelled a boom in data centres on the mainland and Hong Kong, making them increasingly popular with Asian investors as an “alternative real estate asset class”, according to a report by global law firm White & Case.

Data centres are part of a growing group of alternative real estate asset classes such as logistics, student housing and co-living spaces that are steadily gaining popularity compared to traditional commercial, residential and mixed-use units. Read more>>

Filipino Prefab Builder Wins 2,000 Home Puerto Rico Project

Revolution Precrafted Inc., the precast property development company led by the Antonio family, said it signed an agreement with real-estate firm Grupo Cacho of Puerto Rico to supply over 2,000 residential villas on the offshore island of Vieques and on another prime location of a 212-hectare area near the Boqueron Bay Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is the company’s ninth international market. The project is expected to help plug the deficit in the number of available housing units in the hurricane-hit Caribbean territory. Read more>>

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