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Vicinity Centres to sell A$1B of assets; Credit Suisse snaps up HSBC tower

* Vicinity Centres is planning to sell up to A$1.0 billion of noncore subregional and neighborhood shopping centers to speed up its strategy of enhancing its portfolio. Proceeds from the divestments will be channeled toward refurbishments in its malls, including The Glen and Box Hill Central in Melbourne, the Galleria in Perth, and the Chatswood Chase and Bankstown Central in Sydney.

* Separately, the Melbourne-based developer gave Golden Age Group Pty Ltd. the permission to initiate a A$450 million apartment development on top of its The Glen shopping center in Melbourne, the Australian Financial Review reported. The planned Sky Garden residential project will feature 555 housing units across three buildings and a 4,000-square-meter sky garden.

* Credit Suisse Asset Management Global Real Estate bought the 26-story HSBC Tower in Wellington, New Zealand, from property investor Mark Dunajtschik for NZ$102.5 million. The purchased office-and-retail property with a total floor area of 15,332 square meters is one of the few grade-A buildings in the city, according to the AFR. It is fully leased with the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as anchor tenant.

Hong Kong and China

* Master Glory Group Ltd. said it has written a memorandum of understanding for the sale of certain equities of its wholly owned subsidiary to SMI Holdings Group Ltd. The subsidiary is principally engaged in the development of real estate in China and holds certain property interests in a building in Guangzhou, Hong Kong Economic Journal reported.

* Wang On Group Ltd. and Wang On Properties Ltd. are both expecting year-over-year increases in their consolidated profit attributable to the owners of their respective parents for the year ended March 31. Wang On Group is bullish it will see an at least 100% growth, while Wang On Properties anticipates a rise of not less than 40x.

* Martin Lee, Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd.'s vice chairman, was reported by the South China Morning Post as saying that the property developer is planning to convert farmlands and redevelop aging districts in a bid to further expand its landbank. The new strategies will be implemented while the company continues to pursue tendered sites.

* Hong Kong-listed developer Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd.'s contracted sales in May jumped 44% on an annual basis to 10.47 billion yuan, representing gross floor sales area of 824,400 square meters.

Australia

* Canadian property company Oxford Properties Group is believed to have joined the competition for Grocon Pty. Ltd.'s stake in the A$1.4 billion office component of the Central Barangaroo integrated project in Sydney, The Australian reported.

If confirmed, the real estate arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System pension fund will be up against Japanese developer Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. and Australian companies Charter Hall Group and Investa Property Group for the interest in the mixed-use project, which is a joint venture with Scentre Group and Aqualand.

* The emerging build-to-rent sector secured support from the labor government of Victoria. Planning Minister Richard Wynne was quoted by the AFR as saying that the government's interests lie in the affordable aspect of the industry and not in its high-end variety.

Japan

* Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd.'s Royal Park Hotels and Resorts Co. Ltd. will open hotels in Ginza, Kyoto and Kobe, in anticipation of the coming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It also plans to boost its number of rooms to about 4,100 by the year 2022 from the current 2,561 rooms, Kensetsutsushin Shimbun reported.

* Es-con Japan Ltd. said it will jointly develop with Mitsubishi Jisho Residence Co. Ltd. the site of the Shirokane Dormitory of the University of Tokyo, Kentsu Shinbunsha reported.

India

* Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd. is planning to launch five new residential developments spanning approximately 2 million square feet in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai by March 2019, Mint (New Delhi) reported, citing CEO and Managing Director Anita Arjundas.

Other real estate news

* HNA Group Co. Ltd.'s €670 million stake in NH Hotel Group SA has drawn interest from Spanish hotel company Grupo Barcelo and Thai company Minor International Pcl, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The Chinese conglomerate, which recently confirmed receipt of informal expressions of interest for the stake, is NH Hotel's biggest shareholder.

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.

Rollen Catorce and John Chan contributed to this report.

As of June 1, US$1 was equivalent to 6.42 yuan and NZ$1.43.