Japan Hotel REIT Upgrades Financial Forecast and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Japan Hotel REIT executive director Kaname Masuda

SC Capital’s Japan Hotel REIT boosts its operating forecast for the year just past, with that improved guidance leading today’s headline roundup. Also in the news, Tokyo Tatemono invests in a Sydney residential project and non-bank lenders reel from an office slowdown in Melbourne’s CBD fringe.

Japan Hotel REIT Upgrades Net Income Forecast
Tokyo-listed Japan Hotel REIT on Friday updated its operating forecast for 2024, predicting that its net income for the year will reach JPY 18 billion ($110 million), or 2.2 percent more than originally forecast.

The REIT managed by Singapore’s SC Capital said the updated financials were introduced after the trust’s manager reviewed the latest operational results for its hotels, with revenue also predicted to rise 1.2 percent to JPY 33.3 billion. Read more>>

Tokyo Tatemono Backs Sydney Residential Project
Sydney-based real estate firm Versatile Group announced late last week that Japanese developer Tokyo Tatemono is now backing one of the builder’s luxury projects in the New South Wales capital.

In a LinkedIn post, Versatile said TSE-listed Tokyo Tatemono is investing in a residential project being developed by the Aussie firm’s Perifa unit in Sydney’s Crow’s Nest area as its first residential investment in the country. Read more>>

MaxCap, Pallas Capital Struggle as Melbourne Office Investments Leak Cash
Newly completed office buildings on the Melbourne city fringe financed by non-bank lenders including MaxCap and Pallas Capital are struggling to find tenants amid lower demand for commercial property.

Investigations by the Australian Financial Review show that a handful of towers on the once-booming edge of the CBD are languishing with high vacancies, pointing to the risks for lenders who chased market share in a credit boom now suffering from a hangover of weak activity. Read more>>

Australia’s NextDC Files Plans for $123M Melbourne Data Centre
NextDC has plans for a A$200 million ($122.9 million) data centre at Port Melbourne, signalling the latest development in what industry research identifies as an emerging boom sector in Australia.

The proposal is NextDC’s fourth major facility slated for Melbourne as demand for data processing capabilities continues to surge nationally. The M4 facility is proposed for a 2.6 hectare (6.4 acre) site at 127 Todd Road, about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) by road west of the CBD. The project is in the early planning stages. Read more>>

Japan’s CRE Buys Indonesian Warehouse from NWP
Tokyo-listed CRE said Friday that a unit of its CRE Asia division had acquired a warehouse near Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, for an undisclosed amount.

CRE Asia bought Cella Sidoarjo DC Logistik Warehouse, a 21,651 square metre (233,049 square foot) warehouse with cold storage facilities, from Warburg Pincus-backed real estate investor and developer NWP Property. The deal closed in December with the project fully leased to a local hypermarket retailer. Read more>>

Sime Darby Buys Out Japanese Stake in Pair of Malaysian Warehouses
Sime Darby Property has acquired two modern double-storey logistics warehouses in Bandar Bukit Raja, Selangor, for MYR 232 million ($51 million).

The assets were previously owned by Sime Darby Property MIT Development, a 50:50 joint venture between Sime Darby Property and a Japanese joint venture comprising MBK Real Estate Asia and a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Estate. In a statement, Sime Darby Property said the acquisition consolidates its ownership of the strategically located assets. Read more>>

Bids Set to Close for $272M Seoul Office Tower
The sales of several office buildings along Teheran-ro in Seoul’s upscale Gangnam Business District are gaining momentum.

The bidding for the sale of NC Tower, owned by NCSOFT Corp, a major South Korean game developer and publisher, is slated for 13 January, according to investment banking industry sources on Friday. Analysts said the property sale would be a key gauge of business conditions for GBD office properties. Read more>>

Chinese Local Governments Paying Debt With Apartments
In recent years, Chinese developers have been so strapped for cash that they have used unsold apartments to settle debts to construction companies and furniture suppliers. Now, Chinese local governments are following suit.

In August, a gas supplier in China’s far western Xinjiang region struck a solution to settle $25 million in overdue gas bills racked up by a few state-owned entities in Changji city. Instead of cash, the gas supplier will effectively take over 260 unfinished apartments in a French-themed residential compound being developed by its clients. The compound’s main street is to be called the Avenue des Champs-Elysees. Read more>>

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