Asians Play Global Monopoly in New York

From the Looking Glass...

  

New York Magazine photo

Video By Haslinda Amin 2017

• 61 Broadway gets a Asian stakeholder for 49%
• ICBC lends $212M for Kuafu's 1 MiMA investment
• China Anbang on a tear -- Office building on Fifth Avenue
• Oceanwide buys Hughes site at Seaport
• Korean Teachers Credit Union and TIAA-CREF are staking a claim on Socony-Mobil building thru $175 mln mezzo loan
• Observer hq for $165 mln
• Unizo buys 370 Lexington fo ~ $250 mln
• Shanghai Construction Group with Kuafu's $261 million purchase

The Asian Acquisitor 

• China Oceanwide acquires Howard Hughes site at South Seaport for $390 million
• China Cinda taking 65.1% stake in 610 Lexington - for condos and hotels
• Foreign investors in New York
• Anbang LifeCo. buys Waldorf Astoria  >>  Turning them into condos   >> Add Condos!
• Biggest property purchase in the U.S.     >>  New York Times
• Bank of China in New York  
• Helmsley Building for sale - Korean pension fund vendor
• Another expensive unit to Chinese

Government of Singapore purchase Time Warner Centre 

PUBLISHED JANUARY 18, 2014

GIC venture buys space in Time Warner Center

It will lease the 1.1m sq ft of space back to Time Warner till 2019

GIC has sealed a deal to buy office space in New York City's Time Warner Center with two partners, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and US real estate firm Related Companies, for US$1.3 billion 

[SINGAPORE] GIC is close to snapping up a part of New York City's Time Warner Center, an iconic, 229m twin-tower mixed-use complex in the south-western corner of the city's famed Central Park.

The Business Times understands that GIC is part of a consortium in the final stage of talks with Time Warner Inc to buy the 1.1 million square feet of office space that the latter owns. The consortium will then lease the space back to Time Warner Inc.

A source close to the deal said that GIC will be forking out US$400 million, which will give it a "substantial stake" of the Grade A office space Time Warner Inc is selling.

The consortium is said to have fought off offers from interested parties, including a sovereign wealth fund.  -- 2013 November 11 

GIC, two others to buy New York office space for $1.65b

Singapore's GIC, and two other companies are buying over one-third of the office space in Time Warner Centre in New York for $1.3 billion (S$1.65 billion), media and entertainment giant and property-owner Time Warner revealed.

Following its recent deal in Europe where the sovereign wealth fund bought 50 percent interest in a London office complex from Blackstone Group, GIC is now partnering with American real estate firm Related Companies and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) to buy the 1.1 million sq ft of office space in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in New York.

Regional Head of Americas at GIC Real Estate Tia Miyamoto said: "Time Warner Center is one of the premier mixed-use projects in the country. We see significant upside in leasing the high quality office space following Time Warner Inc.'s planned relocation to 30 Hudson Yards. We believe strong demand for this first-rate office property will translate into a stable income stream which suits GIC as a long-term investor."

The deal will see the consortium leasing the office space back to Time Warner until early 2019, which will move HBO, CNN and other business units to Hudson Yards, also in New York.

The office space features two dedicated lobbies, ceiling heights ranging from over 13 feet to 27 feet, flexible floor plans as well as terraces with panoramic views of Central Park.  -- 2014 Jan 21  Yahoo! Finance Singapore 

• China Vanke @ 610 Lexington - 303,00 ft sq2
• Chinese Greenland's $5 bln Acquistion   >>  Atlantic Yards proceeding - Dec 2014
• Park Lane by Central Park sold
• Sohu in for piece of GM Building

• 1 Chase Manhatten sold to Fosun for $725 mln
• 40% stake in GM Building    >> $59 mln in Property Taxes!
• GM  Building sold
• 650 Madison
• East 59th - between Park & Lexington

• Jersey Waterfront Site for $70 mln
• Asians play Monopoly in NYC

The Plaza 

• https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-06-30/new-york-s-plaza-hotel-has-third-suitor-join-battle-for-control
• Delhi Courts ruled recently that the legal owner of the Plaza Hotel cannot sell
• Plaza to be Sold

OTHER

A Million Doesn't Buy Much

MILLION DOLLAR HOMES
Manhattanites with budgets that would buy mansions in most of America are discovering that it is tough to find even a two-bedroom apartment in New York. - PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

WITH US$1 million to spend and no need for a mortgage, Laiyan Wong expected to be able to easily buy a two-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. What she did not anticipate was how much competition she would have.

Ms Wong viewed more than 10 apartments in two months, gradually increasing her budget to US$1.5 million as it became clear that others were looking for similar properties amid a plummeting supply of homes in her price range.

"I made four bids and was outbid each time," said Ms Wong, a trader at an investment bank, who eventually got a mortgage and paid US$1.6 million for a condo that was about to go under contract to someone else. "You have to be willing to make a decision in a few minutes and overpay the asking price."  -- 2013 August 8    Business Times

• Milstein inks $498M loan with Bank of China
• Bank of China funding [plucky!] Bruce Eichner
• Former Taiwan Prez Chen Shui-Bian's unit - for sale

• $5,487 psf - Upper East Side benchmark
• ShellCo's buy NYC condos

OTHER BENCHMARKS:

• Manulife in New York
• Met Life Building