Asia Real Estate People in the News 2019-06-24

In this week’s edition of People in the News, the chairman of a troubled Jiangsu-based developer that notched RMB 1 billion ($150 million) in loan defaults last year resigns for health reasons, and a top five mainland developer hires a vice president to focus on outbound investments in its Hong Kong office. In the agency world, JLL brings on board some new faces in its hotel division in Singapore and the world’s hippest shared space provider keeps adding to its team.

Shu Cecheng has resigned as the Chairman of Wuzhou International Holdings due to ill health, according to a stock exchange announcement. Shu, who founded the industrial real estate specialist in 2004, has also ceased to be the chairman of the nomination committee and the company’s authorised representative. Once named Entrepreneur of the Year by E&Y, the former carpenter and toy factory head has faced a challenging twelve months after his Hong Kong-listed company defaulted on RMB 1 billion in loans in 2018. The embattled businessman’s brother, Shu Cewan, who was formerly Wuzhou’s vice chairman, has stepped up to fill the chairman role.

Gabriel Stubbe has been named Senior Vice President of Investment Sales in Asia for JLL Hotels & Hospitality . In his new Singapore-based role Stubbe will be responsible for strengthening the agency’s hotels and hospitality market presence across the region, and will report to Nihat Ercan, head of Investment Sales in Asia. Stubbe, who has 18 years’ experience in hospitality investments with Colony Capital, Grove International Partners and Hyatt, has also served on several Singapore-listed REIT boards including OUE Commercial REIT, First REIT and Eagle Hospitality Trust.

Patrick Lui has joined Poly Developments and Holdings in Hong Kong as a vice president of real estate investment and development. In his new role, Lui will concentrate on outbound investment opportunities in gateway cities around the globe for the mainland property developer, after parting ways with Button Capital where he had served as an investment manager with a focus on real estate since August 2016.  The London School of Economics and Political Science graduate also served as a global investment management analyst for JPMorgan from 2014 until 2016, and as a management associate for Citigroup from 2012 until 2013.

Matthew Jackson has been appointed as an Associate Director of Investment with Savills’ Shanghai office, returning to the agency after a year and a half with non-profit organisation Global Shapers Community in the city. The Nottingham Trent University graduate previously worked for Savills from 2014 until 2017 in both London and Shanghai as an assistant manager, and for the agency’s commercial services division in South Korea and Vietnam  between 2012 and 2013.

Katherine Lu has been hired as Head of Partnerships Growth in China for WeWork Space Services in Beijing, the co-working provider’s in-house brokerage that was first piloted last year. Lu joins the shared office phenomena after six years at CBRE, where she served most recently as a director of transaction management in the advisory and transaction services department. Prior to this, the Tsingshua University graduate worked for Cushman and Wakefield from 2010 until 2012, serving first as an associate director in account management and then as a director.

Kate Healy Smith, Head of Marketing and Client Experience for Colliers in Hong Kong, has been promoted to director after ten months as an associate director with the property consultancy. Before joining Colliers, Healy Smith was a marketing director of corporate brands for Cievents and the Flight Centre Travel Group in Hong Kong from 2015 until 2017, and a marketing consultant for Transtar International Freight from 2013 to 2016.

Melody Wang has been appointed as a Programme Manager for new initiatives at WeWork in Shanghai, following her appointment in June 2017 as event manager for the co-working provider’s Shanghai team. Prior to this, Wang served as WeWork Shanghai’s associate community manager from January 2017 until June 2017. Before joining WeWork, the Chinese University of Hong Kong graduate worked for Space Global Real Estate as a marketing and business development manager for six months, and was a corporate communications officer with Soundwill Holdings Limited from 2012 until 2015.

Yihan Chen has been won the role of an investment analyst with Savills in the property agency’s Shenzhen office after a year-long management traineeship that started in June 2018. The graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where Chen took an MSc in Real Estate and Hospitality Management, also completed a six-month property and asset management internship for Colliers in Shenzhen in 2017.

Jing Xing Zhou has been promoted to senior manager with the retail department at JLL in Guangzhou following eight years as an assistant manager on the same team. Prior to joining JLL in 2011, the public relations graduate of Guangzhou’s Sun Yat-sen University completed a commercial banking internship with HSBC and a marketing internship with Xinhua News Agency in 2010.

If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.