The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has agreed to buy the Westin Tokyo luxury hotel for 77 billion yen (723 million US dollars) from Morgan Stanley, a newspaper said Sunday. The parties have reached a basic accord on the purchase of the land and the building located in Tokyo's high-end residential and commercial district of Ebisu, the Nikkei business daily said. They plan to complete the...
Overseas Property
Iconic projects around Dubai belied its ambition to turn barren desert into a world class destination. The Palm Jumeirah, fanning out into the Arabian Gulf, is hailed as a symbol of Dubai's growth, innovation and vision for the future. Palm Jumeirah It is one of the world's largest man-made islands, covering 560 hectares or more than 600 football fields. Built entirely on reclaimed land, it is also the...
Singapore and China officials have held their first joint working meeting on the mega Sino-Singapore Eco-City project. Besides preservation and restoration of natural ecology, green consumption and low carbon emissions, it is social cohesion that tops the list of features in the eco-city, said Singapore's Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan. Grand plans are in store for the Sino-Singapore Tianjin...
DOHA, Qatar : It has been dubbed the "Venice of Qatar"; a project called "The Pearl-Qatar" is an upscale Riviera-style development, and when completed in 2011, the project will be home to some 40,000 residents. Investors from 45 countries have flocked to the project to snap up properties there, but real estate is not the only attraction for Singapore companies. With its mix of Venetian charm and Arabic...
CapitaLand is investing over S$1 billion in 15 malls across India through two joint ventures with Indian companies. The venture will be fully funded by the CapitaRetail India Development Fund, which is 45 per cent owned by CapitaLand. CapitaLand said it plans to duplicate its China strategy in India, which is to focus first on the gateway cities, including Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore, and then...
GIC Real Estate is partnering with Russia's PIK Group to develop a large urban township in the city of Mytischi in Russia. The 114-hectare site is located in the Moscow region to the northeast of the capital. GIC Real Estate will acquire a 25 per cent stake in the project for US$233 million (S$336 million). A CB Richard Ellis appraisal carried out 12 months ago valued the site at over US$1.3...
Fresh from bailing out Europe’s largest bank UBS with a 11-billion Swiss franc ($14.2-billion) cash injection, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has taken a 3-per-cent stake in British Land, The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday. The investment is worth about £138 million ($388 million), based on British Land’s market capitalisation of £4.6 billion, according to Bloomberg...
Mainboard-listed construction firm Chip Eng Seng is expanding its footprint in Vietnam with two residential projects in Ho Chi Minh City.The projects are expected to cost a total of S$180 million and will be undertaken with local partners. One is a condominium development comprising three 18-storey blocks, yielding a total of 780 units. This will be built on a 23,000 square metre site. Chip Eng Seng will...
A growing middle class seeking property in Vietnam will keep Singapore property developers there busy, even as its government plans a tax on capital gains. Last month, the national assembly of the socialist country passed new regulations to tax capital gains - 20 per cent on stock trade gains, and 25 per cent on property profits - from January 2009. “With regard to the recent proposal of introducing a...
Ten years after its return to Chinese rule, Hong Kong ranks again among the world’s most expensive cities to live in, after a traumatic, rollercoaster ride that has left many homeowners still feeling the pain. Ms Rebecca Leung’s tiny 500-sq-ft flat in the busy but grimy North Point area of Hong Kong island cost her HK$2 million ($394,000) at the height of the property boom in 1996. Today, it is worth...