Weave Living Reunites With KKR to Add 3,000 Rental Units in Japan

Building on their partnership in South Korea’s rental housing market, Weave Living and investment giant KKR have teamed up once again on a multi-family programme aiming to assemble a portfolio of more than 3,000 units in Japan.

The venture is seeded with 11 new properties in Tokyo, comprising 439 units that Weave acquired and stabilised over the last 12 months, the companies said Wednesday in a release. The assets are operating at close to full occupancy with a mix of traditional and fixed-term leases, they said. No financial details were disclosed.

The news follows the March announcement that Weave had secured Manhattan-based KKR as a capital partner for the regional apartment operator’s first investments in South Korea, with the brand’s flagship Seoul property scheduled to open next week.

“We are pleased to extend our relationship with Weave Living beyond our successful strategic partnership in Korea and into Japan, which is a key market for KKR’s real estate strategy in Asia Pacific and globally,” said David Cheong, managing director and co-head of acquisitions on KKR’s Asia real estate team.

Tokyo Focus

The venture plans to invest in both newly built and existing assets, with an initial focus on Tokyo and a potential expansion into Osaka, according to the partners.

Known as Weave Living Japan Residential Venture I, the strategy was previewed in February when Weave founder and CEO Sachin Doshi announced the inaugural multi-family fund with an initial target of raising $500 million in equity.

The fund is the first in a series of Japan-focused vehicles that Weave plans to launch with institutional capital partners as Asia’s second-largest economy becomes the platform’s biggest market by assets under management in the coming years.

In South Korea, Weave and KKR are seeking to build a Seoul-centric portfolio of 1,200 rental homes. The current Korean assets are a 98-unit facility under the Weave Place brand in the capital’s Dongdaemun district and the 157-unit Weave Suites Sunyu Parkside in the financial hub of Yeouido, with the latter property set to open its doors on 3 December.

In addition to Japan and South Korea, Weave has projects in Singapore and the company’s hometown of Hong Kong, owning and operating a regional portfolio of 3,000 rental units under the Weave Studios, Weave Place, Weave Suites and Weave Residences brands.

Weave’s stable of capital partners also includes private equity major Warburg Pincus, asset management titan BlackRock, LaSalle Investment Management, Angelo Gordon and PGIM Real Estate.

Fund Fired Up

KKR is making its investment from the $1.7 billion Asia Real Estate Partners, the firm’s first dedicated fund for property investments in the region.

The vehicle’s other investments include last year’s $409 million buy of the Hyatt Regency Tokyo alongside Gaw Capital Partners in a deal backed by South Korea’s MDM Asset Management, as well as the acquisition of the Namsan Green Building in Seoul’s Jung district, also in 2023.

In May, a KKR-led consortium including Seoul-based fund manager IGIS Asset Management and developer SK D&D began marketing the Namsan Square office building in central Seoul after having purchased the property in 2020. The marketing exercise launched a month after KKR sold the Incheon Seoknam Coupang Logistics Centre to IGIS Asset Management.

Through its $15 billion Asian Fund IV buyout strategy, KKR is locked in a battle with rival Bain Capital to gain control of Japan’s Fuji Soft, with KKR’s latest tender offer narrowly eclipsing Bain’s competing bid.