* Super fund developer Cbus Property is planning to construct a A$1 billion 55-level tower at 435 Bourke St. in Melbourne that will include 64,500 square meters of office space, The Australian Financial Review reported. Cbus consolidated several neighboring properties in the area for the project, including the site of an abandoned A$350 million Tower Melbourne project that was being undertaken by Singapore's Chip Eng Seng Corp. Ltd.
* Hong Kong-based Arch Capital Property Advisors purchased the Taimall Shopping Center in Taoyuan, Taiwan, for roughly NT$13.8 billion on behalf of an unidentified institutional investor that combined with Taiwanese investment trust Millerful REIT No. 1 on the transaction, Mingtiandi reported. The mall spans a total gross floor area of around 100,000 square meters and includes a theater and entertainment center, among other amenities.
Australia
* Frasers Property Australia Pty Ltd., the Australian arm of Singapore-listed Frasers Property Ltd. is purchasing The Grove residential community in Melbourne from Stockland for A$202.5 million.
* Still in Melbourne, Vicinity Centres sold the Keilor Central shopping center for A$113 million to Fort Street in an off-market deal, the AFR reported. According to the report, the 19,700-square-meter mall and car park on a 9.1-hectare site were purchased by the real estate fund manager for its Fort Street Real Estate Capital Fund IV.
* Phileo Australia Ltd. will formally apply for delisting from the Australian stock exchange today after the company's manager's plan, involving a selective capital return, got the approval of the majority of shareholders.
Hong Kong and China
* Sino Land Co. Ltd. sold a record 871 units worth HK$10.6 billion within a week at the Grand Central residential project in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, and released another 208 units under phase II of the project Dec. 19, The (Hong Kong) Standard reported. The company is developing the phase II in association with Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd. and the Urban Renewal Authority.
* The Hong Kong Monetary Authority raised its interest rate to 2.75%, following in the footsteps of the U.S. Federal Reserve, exerting further pressure on purportedly the world's least affordable property market, London's Financial Times reported. Norman Chan, chief executive of Hong Kong's de facto central bank, said that measures to back the local property market will be taken in case signs of a price downturn emerge, the publication noted.
* New World Development Co. Ltd. sold a 96% stake in the Sun On Mansion, a 10-story residential building on Cannon Street in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, to property investment firm Winland Group for HK$2.17 billion, Mingtiandi reported, citing an unnamed source privy to the matter.
According to the report, the buyer plans to use Hong Kong's Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment law to convert the building into a commercial tower, expected to cover a gross floor area of 85,000 square feet.
* A consortium consisting of China Gezhouba Group Co. Ltd unit China Gezhouba Group Real Estate Corp. and Changzhou Sanhe Properties Ltd. acquired the land use rights for a parcel in Nanjing, China, with a successful 1.51 billion-yuan bid. The site can be used for residential use and spans a gross floor area of 24,498.87 square meters.
* Guangzhou's Land and Urban-rural Development Commission lifted a 21-month ban on the sale of apartments to individuals Dec. 19, the South China Morning Post reported.
* Modern Land (China) Co. Ltd. plans to launch an offering of U.S. dollar-denominated senior notes, to be issued as green bonds, with the proceeds to go toward refinancing of certain outstanding debt.
Singapore
* Keppel Corp. said a unit of its property arm Keppel Land Ltd. will buy out PRE 1, which owns the I12 Katong shopping mall, from an Alpha Asia Macro Trends Fund subsidiary for S$56.6 million, gaining control of the underlying property in the process, The (Singapore) Business Times reported.
Japan
* Japan Rental Housing Investments Inc. struck interest-rate swap deals for three term loans totaling ¥13.70 billion, which are part of the residential REIT's ¥14.20 billion of loans to be refinanced Dec. 25.
Other real estate news
* Australia's Cromwell Property Group disposed of four office buildings totaling 25,417 square meters of lettable space in the Netherlands from its managed funds on behalf of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific, Real Estate edition is updated by 6:30 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
Abdul Rehman Maqbool contributed to this report.