* Chinese developers China Evergrande Group, China Vanke Co. Ltd. and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. reported year-over-year increases in their respective profits for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017.
China Evergrande's net profit during the reporting year surged 110.3% to 37.05 billion yuan; China Vanke's net profit attributable to equity shareholders of the company jumped 33.4% to 28.05 billion yuan; and China Overseas Land saw profit attributable to owners of the company grow 10.1% to an estimated HK$40.77 billion.
* In the Land Down Under, Charter Hall Group, backed by investment from Singapore wealth fund GIC Pvt. Ltd., is nearing a deal to secure the roughly A$110 million office building at 143 Turbot St. in Brisbane, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk reported.
The report featuring the expected changes in Brisbane's office property market also noted that Mirvac Group is looking for a capital partner for the 32-story tower that it is planning to develop at 80 Ann St. The diversified developer is offering a 50% stake in the 75,000-square-meter development, which according to Street Talk, could be worth close to A$800 million upon completion.
* Approximately US$30 billion could be invested in Asia Pacific's real estate sector, Deal Street Asia reported, quoting Harry Tan, the Singapore-based head of research for Asia-Pacific at TH Real Estate. Tan said more capital is expected to be invested in the region, as investors pursue asset diversification.
Australia
* Financial services provider Credit Suisse Group AG sold its half-stake in the Australian Tax Office headquarters at 52 Goulburn St. in Sydney to boutique investment house Arcadia under a A$176 million deal, according to the AFR. The 12-level office building, which features 23,100 square meters of office space and a parking area for 210 cars, forms part of the wider World Square development complex.
* The proposed Midtown Centre project in Brisbane, undertaken by Sydney-based financial house Ashe Morgan and DMANN Corp., will see two former government buildings combined to form a A$500 million office tower that will provide 42,000 square meters of space across 26 stories, the AFR reported.
* The private owners and developers of a nine-hectare site in the Showground Station Precinct in Sydney are looking to transform the property into a 3,600-home scheme that will include 360 affordable rental houses, the AFR reported.
Southeast Asia
* Frasers Assets Co. Ltd., a Frasers Property Ltd. joint venture, is expected to formally launch April 4 its tender offer for Ticon Industrial Connection PCL. The launch will follow the completion of Frasers Assets' 17.90-Thai-baht-per-share purchase of Rojana Industrial Park PCL's shares in Ticon, which serves as a preceding condition in Frasers Property's planned 20 billion-baht buyout of the Thai industrial developer.
* Co-working space operator WeWork Cos. will launch branches in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Manila before 2018 ends as part of its US$500 million expansion push in Southeast Asia, The (Singapore) Business Times reported.
India
* Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd., fresh from securing shareholder approval for its planned asset divestments and exit of the Chennai, India, market, entered into a definitive agreement with developer Ozone Group for the 2.85 billion-rupee sale of its Indiabulls Greens residential project, India's Mint reported, citing two people familiar with the transaction.
* Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd. opened its IPO on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. The offering of 185,479,400 equity shares will run until March 28, with the per-share price range set at 54 rupees to 56 rupees.
Hong Kong and China
* The registrar of companies in Hong Kong confirmed the registration of Landsea Green Properties Co. Ltd.'s new name, Landsea Green Group Co. Ltd., which has an effective date of March 2. In light of the successful name change, the listed developer will also have new English and Chinese stock short names of LANDSEA GREEN and ??????, respectively, effective March 29.
* Wedge Industrial Co. Ltd. is divesting a 50% stake in a real estate company based in Changzhou, China, for 353.9 million yuan, Reuters reported.
* The Shenzhen government has drafted a consultation paper to clarify the process of rebuilding of shanty towns. According to the paper, property owners in shanty towns will be compensated with a new property of the same size or an apartment up to 120% of the original gross floor area.
* The government of Yunnan, China, will start a province-wide survey of land starting in April to accurately assess land uses and usage frequencies, China.com reported. The survey is due to be completed by the end of 2019, and will include a detailed investigation into lands with low efficiency.
Japan
* Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. will open the commercial section of its Tokyo Midtown Hibiya project March 29, Jutaku-Shimpo-Sha reported. A total of 60 tenant stores on lower floors of the 35-story mixed-use building will be open for business.
* The Tokyo Metropolitan Government gave the go-ahead to a consortium including Mori Building Co. Ltd. to launch three high-rise projects with a total cost of ¥579.2 billion in central Tokyo, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported.
* Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. Ltd. and Nomura Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. will build a two-tower, 1,450-unit apartment complex next to Tokyo's Ikebukuro Station, The Nikkei reported. Construction will start in 2020 for completion in 2024.
Other news
* Blackstone Group LP agreed to sell the Cannon Bridge House property in the City of London to a joint venture between South Korea's FG Asset Management and European real estate investment manager The Valesco Group for £248 million.
* Ho Bee Land Ltd. earmarked a total of €90 million for its planned investment in CS Real Estate SICAV-SIF I — Credit Suisse (Lux) European Property Fund II, which supports the Singapore-listed company's geographical diversification and investment strategies. The fund is an investment company that targets real estate and/or real estate investment structures in key European cities.
Cam Nones, Emily Lai and Jaekwon Lim contributed to this report.
As of March 26, US$1 was equivalent to 6.27 yuan, 64.75 Indian rupees, ¥104.95 and 31.14 baht.