* Vietnamese developer BRG Group JSC and Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. are partnering to develop a ¥450 billion smart city on the outskirts of Hanoi, Vietnam, The Nikkei reported. The project is scheduled to begin in 2020 and will include approximately 7,000 apartment and homes, as well as office buildings and commercial areas, the report added.
* Allianz SE will invest ¥130 billion to acquire about 80 rental apartment complexes in Tokyo, Osaka and other major cities in Japan, The Nikkei reported. The deal is set to mark the German insurance group's entry into the Japanese real estate market.
Greater China
* Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. is contemplating offering 100,000 square feet of farmland at Kam Tin in New Territories, Hong Kong, to the government for seven years to construct temporary residential units for some 10,000 residents, The South China Morning Post reported. The planned move follows a similar recent announcement by developer New World Development Co. Ltd. to offer nearly a fifth of its farmland reserves to the government and nonprofit organizations to help alleviate the city's ongoing housing crisis.
* Two units of China Sandi Holdings Ltd. agreed to sell a 37% equity interest in Xi'an Zhichengda Real Estate Co. Ltd. to Xi'an Chongfeng Real Estate Co. Ltd. for approximately 362.3 million yuan. The target company is a joint venture solely involved in the development of a mixed-use project with a gross floor area of about 625,630 square meters in Xi'an in China's Shaanxi province. The project is slated for completion in 2021.
* Central China Real Estate Ltd.'s property contracted sales in September grew 55.1% year over year to roughly 10.93 billion yuan. The company's contracted sales gross floor area for the month increased 8.1% on an annual basis to 1,140,067 square meters.
* Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., K. Wah International Holdings Ltd. and China Resources Land Ltd. are seeking approval for the conversion of a 23,700-square-meter land plot in southwest Kowloon, Hong Kong, into a residential and commercial area. According to the proposal, the site will provide 3,647 units in seven buildings, covering 177,750 square meters.
* Hong Kong property transactions declined 20.7% month over month to 4,090 in September, The Standard reported, citing data from the Land Registry. Meanwhile, availability rate in the office leasing sector rose 7.4% during the period to the highest level in about 14 years, according to the report.
* New home sales in Hong Kong reached 777 units in September in expectation of a vacancy tax launch, Hong Kong Economic Times reported. The number has broken the record for the year, with developers boosting sales through offering discounts, additional commission for agents and a wider variety of payment methods.
Japan
* Leopalace21 Corp. will sell three hotels in Sapporo, Sendai and Fukuoka for a combined ¥16 billion as part of asset liquidation to shore up its balance sheet, The Nikkei reported. The Tokyo-based real estate developer is grappling with a growing number of Leopalace apartments found to be noncompliant with construction standards.
Australia
* AMP Capital and LendLease Group are said to be among parties interested in acquiring Macquarie Group Ltd.'s metro station tower at 39 Martin Place in Sydney, The Australian Financial Review reported. The south tower is part of a two-tower office project in the city's central business district, and is expected to be sold for more than A$750 million, the publication added, citing industry sources.
* Orion International Group Pty. Ltd. sold the 12-story Swann House building in central Melbourne for A$52 million to a buyer represented by Swiss-based asset manager Fidinam Group, the AFR reported.
* Flexible office space provider Regus agreed to occupy the top floor of the eight-story Flinders Centre building in Bankstown, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The company will rent 1,350 square meters of space with 200 workstations for the new Regus Business office.
India
* Due to a liquidity crunch in India's shadow-banking sector, Radius Developers is finding it tough to finance development of apartment complexes, Bloomberg News reported, citing COO Ashish Shah. The issue has impacted some $63 billion of residential projects across India as they have come to a halt, the report added, citing Anarock Property Consultants.
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.
Jaekwon Lim and Emily Lai contributed to this article.
