A consortium led by property giant CapitaLand, CapitaMalls Asia and Temasek unit Singbridge will spend about 21 billion yuan (S$4.1 billion) on a mixed-use development in Chongqing, China, after it won the tender yesterday for the site in the world’s largest city.
Lead developer CapitaLand said this as it announced plans to turn the property on the banks of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers into something like ION Orchard or Raffles City.
CapitaLand chief executive Liew Mun Leong told MediaCorp that “Chongqing’s economy is the fastest growing in China and we are therefore optimistic that in five years the city will boom”.
The Chao Tian Men site, sitting on nearly one million sq ft of land, was awarded at 6.5 billion yuan, after the consortium beat five other contenders in a closed tender where design was a factor in choosing the winner.
The site, located next to the central business district of Jiefangbei, will be developed into a shopping mall and eight towers that will consist of a hotel, residential units, serviced residences and office units, CapitaLand said. The development will also house a transport hub for a metro station, bus interchange, ferry terminal and cruise centre. The total gross floor area would be about 8.8 million sq ft.
CapitaLand and CapitaMalls Asia each own a 25 per cent stake in the development, while Springbridge owns 30 per cent. The remaining 20 per cent are held by unrelated parties. The project will be funded through equity and borrowings, CapitaLand said.
With the latest acquisition, China assets are expected to constitute 42 to 45 per cent of CapitaLand’s total assets in the next three to five years, up from about 35 per cent at present.
At the same time, CapitaLand is not downplaying the Singapore market, which makes up around 35 per cent of its assets currently.
Mr Liew said: “The Singapore market, as you know, has been in a lull for some time. But having said that, you look at what happened to our Bedok Residences – it was boom time. That is because there is a good property, there is a good location and there is a good product.
“There is affordability for sure in Singapore and there is good demand. And it’s a question of whether you can create a good project.”