China's Greenland Sells RMB 1.5 Bil in Sydney Homes in First Weekend

Artist’s Conception of the Greenland Centre in Sydney

The overseas expansion of China’s real estate companies showed some promising return on investment this weekend when a project belonging to Greenland Group sold RMB1.5 billion (US$246 million) in Sydney homes.

The Shanghai-based developer launched sales of its first Australian project, the 66-storey Greenland Centre, on Friday, and succeeded in selling 250 of the 480 total units by the close of the weekend, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

David Milton, of sales agent CBRE Residential, said only 60 per cent of the available units were on sale this weekend, so the available stock was nearly sold out. The development, which is due to start construction next year and should be completed in approximately four years time, was marketed to buyers in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.

Greenland acquired the Sydney project in March this year for A$480 million (US$438 million) and signed an agreement to acquire a downtown Melbourne site for development of a US$1 billion project during October this year. The group foresees the Melbourne project yielding up to 1200 new homes.

Greenland Acquired Aggressively in 2013

In addition to its Australia projects, Greenland has also moved into the US market during 2013, taking on new developments in the two biggest cities of the world’s largest economy.

In July the real estate firm announced that it had acquired a downtown Los Angeles project known as The Metropolis, and would invest US$1 billion in the downtown development.

The state-owned firm followed up on its Los Angeles venture by signing an agreement in October to acquire the US$4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.

Group Plans Further Expansion Overseas

Following the apparent success of the company’s Sydney project, Greenland is aiming for still more global ventures.

The company’s overseas investment to date has totaled more than US$10 billion, and it plans to “pour in the same amount of money next year,” the Shanghai-based developer said in an e-mail today.

Greenland’s chairman, Zhang Yuliang hailed the expansion of Chinese companies into global markets and predicted more to come. “Chinese enterprises’ overseas expansion will be accelerated, along with the country’s robust economy and Chinese enterprises’ global ambitions,” Zhang said in the statement.

Many other Chinese real estate firms have invested overseas recently, with Greenland competitors such as China Vanke undertaking a project in San Francisco, and Dalian Wanda launching US$1 billion hotel developments in both New York and London. Chinese conglomerate Fosun also acquired the Chase Manhattan building in New York recently for US$725 million.

Guangzhou R&F Properties announced the most recent overseas development project by a Chinese real estate firm today with its agreement to undertake a US$1.39 billion venture in Malaysia.