CapitaLand Acquires Residential Site in Ningbo for US$181 Mil

CapitaLand China, a subsidiary of Singapore’s largest real estate developer announced recently that it had acquired a residential site in the port city of Ningbo in eastern China’s Zhejiang province for S$232 million (US$181.45 million).

The 57,370 square metre site in the Sunjia area of the city’s Jiangbei district was acquired through a government land auction, and CapitaLand said in a statement that it intends to develop approximately 1,100 homes on the property.

The site is said to be able to yield 126,212 square meters of gross floor area, which makes for an accommodation cost to the developer of $1,438 (RMB 8698) per sqm. The developer expects to begin construction on the new project during the third quarter of this year, and hopes to begin selling homes to the public during 2015.

View CapitaLand Site in a larger map

Through its subsidiaries, including Capitaland China, CapitaMalls, and the Ascott Group, as well as the group’s various real estate investment trusts, CapitaLand has invested extensively in China. The group is part of the Singapore government-held investment firm Temasek Holdings.

CapitaLand already has two other projects in Ningbo – Raffles City Ningbo (which was opened in 2012) and Summit Residences.

CapitaLand China’s chief executive officer Jason Leow said in a statement: “Ningbo is China’s second-largest port with residents’ disposable income that is comparable to Shanghai’s.”

The group’s management is on record as indicating that it will focus its China investments within five city clusters; Shanghai/Hangzhou/Suzhou/Ningbo, Beijing/Tianjin, Guangzhou/Shenzhen, Chengdu/Chongqing, and Wuhan.

Although many project have suffered in China’s second and third-tier cities this year, Ningbo’s position as a natural deep-water port located between Shanghai and Hangzhou has traditionally made it a commercial centre.

By the way, if you like (or hate) the map above, just let me know in the Mingtiandi map survey.