KKR Japan REIT Buying Hotel Project for $21M and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Naoki Suzuki, President and CEO of KJR Management

The magnetism of Japan’s hospitality industry again leads Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today, with a Tokyo-listed REIT managed by KKR picking up a hotel in Kamakura, south of Tokyo for $21 million. Also making the news is a US hedge fund honcho buying a Hong Kong luxury home and Mitsubishi Estate continuing its Aussie expansion.

KKR’s Japan Metropolitan Fund Buys Hotel Project From Hajime for $21M
The manager of Japan Metropolitan Fund announced to the Tokyo stock exchange on 20 November that it has agreed to purchase a soon-to-be-completed hotel in Kamakura, south of Tokyo, from Hajime Construction for JPY 3.2 billion ($20.7 million).

The unit of US private equity giant KKR noted that the acquisition is being made at a more than 22 percent discount to the appraised value of the five-storey property, thanks to its relationship with the seller. The transaction is said to be taking place at 5.3 percent yield, based on net operating income for the property, which is scheduled to open in January. Read more>>

Co-CIO of US Hedge Fund Bridgewater Bought Hong Kong Home for $12M
Bob Prince, co-chief investment officer of the world’s largest hedge fund, bought a luxury home in Hong Kong, joining an A-list of global financiers who have begun to heed the city government’s serenade to put down roots in Asia’s third-largest capital market.

The executive of Bridgewater Associates, which had$235 billion of assets under management as of March 31, paid HK$95 million ($12.2 million) for a three-bedroom flat measuring 1,752 sq ft (162.8 square metres) at St. George’s Mansions on Kadoorie Avenue in Ho Man Tin. Read more>>

Mitsubishi Estate Aussie JV Files Plans for Sydney Project
Property funds house AsheMorgan and its Japanese investment partner MEC Global Partners Asia, a unit of Mitsubishi Estate, have won approval for a scheme that will see them demolish and rebuild the podium levels of 60 Margaret Street, known as MetCare Centre, in the Sydney CBD.

The pair said their concept would breathe new life into the property by developing a contemporary podium that would reinforce the public realm streetscape improvements being undertaken by the city. They picked up the property, which comprises 40,726 square metres of office space and a retail component of 6407 square metres, from the listed Mirvac and US private equity firm Blackstone. Read more>>

Australia’s HMC Capital Plans Mid-December IPO for $2.8B Data Centre REIT
Rapidly growing funds house HMC Capital sees the opportunity to expand the capacity of its Australian data centres and to grow further in the US as it revealed that its new A$4.3 billion ($2.8 billion) trust, Digital Infrastructure REIT, had been underwritten and would list in mid-December.

The float is the largest real estate-related vehicle in more than a decade and is another marker for the David Di Pilla-led funds group, which already has listed funds owning shopping centres and medical properties, although the latter has underperformed. Read more>>

India’s Poonawalla Family Pays $53M to Buy Second London Mansion in One Year
India’s billionaire Poonawalla family has bought a £42m townhouse in Mayfair despite the Government’s crackdown on non-doms.

Public filings show that the property in Grosvenor Square, one of London’s most expensive addresses, was sold to a company connected to the Poonawalla family in May. The Grosvenor Square townhouse is located close to Hyde Park’s Aberconway House, which the family bought for £138m last year. Read more>>

Singapore’s JTC Awards Industrial Site to CapitaLand Development
JTC has awarded the tender for an industrial GLS (IGLS) site at Kallang Way to CL Savour Property, a subsidiary of CapitaLand Development, which put in the top bid price of S$368.901 million ($275 million).

The top bid of S$368.901 million is 14.9 percent higher than the second highest bid of S$317.889 million submitted by a consortium of Soon Hock Group, BHCC Construction and Evermega. Read more>>

S&P Downgrades China Vanke, Takes Negative Outlook on Shrinking Balance Sheet
Ratings agency S&P Global said on Wednesday that it has lowered its long-term issuer credit rating on China Vanke to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-‘, noting that the company is likely to sell assets as a discount as it prioritises liquidity.

S&P said that the Shenzhen-based developer is reducing debt more slowly than previously expected, which is leading to higher leverage. China Vanke’s total reported debt was RMB 327.6 billion ($45 billion) as of 30 September, slightly higher than the company’s RMB 320 billion level at the end of last year, S&P noted. Read more>>

US Prosecutors Indict Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani, Alleging Fraud Scheme
Gautam Adani, the chair of Indian conglomerate Adani Group and one of the world’s richest people, has been indicted in New York over an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud scheme, United States prosecutors have said.

On Wednesday authorities charged Adani and two other executives at Adani Green Energy, his nephew Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, with agreeing between 2020 and 2024 to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain solar energy supply contracts expected to yield $2 billion in profits. Read more>>

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