Hong Kong investor muscles in on $190m Sydney tower
Funds management giant TH Real Estate has secured a buyer for its A-grade office block in Hunter Street in central Sydney with Hong Kong-based K. Wah angling to purchase the building for more than $190 million.
The sale comes as investors vie for buildings across Sydney, with more than $1.3 billion worth of towers in play with international groups setting a fierce pace for assets.
The race for the tower drew Hong Kong billionaire Francis Choi, AMP Capital and Anton Capital and while a deal is yet to be announced the K. Wah Group is well-placed to secure the tower, sources say.
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K. Wah Group has more than 50 years experience in the property industry and has operations in Hong Kong, mainland China, Southeast Asia and North America. Its portfolio includes residential developments, luxury residences, office towers, arcades, serviced apartments and hotels.
The group’s listed property arm, K. Wah International Holdings Limited, is a large-scale developer and investor in China with footholds in Hong Kong, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. But with the deal yet to be unveiled it is not known whether this entity would be involved.
TH Real Estate’s sale is a key marker as it picked up the building four years ago for about $96 million when it entered the Australian market. It called in Inc RE’s Josh Cullen and Rick Butler and Colliers International’s Adam Woodward, James Barber and James Girvan to sell the 16-level A-grade tower in August.
TH Real Estate, one of the largest real estate investment managers in the world with close to $100 billion in assets, has become a major local player and recently established a property debt business.
Its empire includes a half-stake in 101 Miller St and the Greenwood Plaza in North Sydney, interests in 699 Bourke St and Myer Bourke St in Melbourne, and the Mount Ommaney Shopping Centre in Queensland.
The Hunter St property is home to 9895sqm of prime office space and includes ground floor retail and basement car parking. Key tenants include Swaab, Napier & Blakeley, CLSA and Alceon, and the property is well positioned to benefit from the dramatic rise in rents at the top end of the Sydney CBD.
Local manager CorVal Partners is selling its tower at 9 Hunter St with an offshore group advised by finance house Ashe Morgan Winthrop in due diligence on that 15,500sqm tower in a deal via JLL and CBRE.
Attention is now turning to the sale of Blackstone’s 1 Castlereagh St tower in Sydney, which is being handled by CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield. It hopes to reap about $200 million from the 22-level building, which it bought from Mirvac as part of a portfolio, and has reworked.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
