Both hotels, now opened and managed by Wyndham Hotel Group, are located at Zhongshan Park, the newest development area in Singapore, and are part of an integrated development that includes a commercial tower and shopping mall. Zhongshan Park is a fundamental component of Singapore’s Identity Plan to rejuvenate the Balestier area and illustrate the culture and history of Singapore.

“Wyndham Hotel Group is proud to be part of Singapore’s development plan for the Balestier area,” said Duane Elledge, executive vice president and managing director of Wyndham Hotel Group in Asia Pacific. “With nearly 650 hotels in the region, these new properties further illustrate our commitment to growing our footprint and showcasing the exceptional services that we provide.”

Both properties have been developed by HH Properties Pte Ltd, a property development group with more than three decades of experience in construction and building. HH Properties Pte Ltd is responsible for a variety of distinguished residential projects in Singapore including Treasure on Balmoral, Waterscape at Cavenagh, Skyline 360^o and Cuscaden Royale.

Read the full article, click here

Hospitality Investment World Thailand 2013, will take place on 12^th-13^th November 2013. Bringing together regional investors, developers, brands, operators, financiers, deal makers and government officials for one common purpose: to do business and capitalise on the fast growing hospitality sector in Thailand.

If you would like to find out more about positioning yourself, your brand and services strategically at this event, contact me at gavin.harris@terrapinn.com

Download our Event Prospectus – click here

Leading up to the 12th annual Real Estate Investment World Asia 2013 convention, this was the question we asked our blog subscribers, LinkedIn group members and anyone in our contact network.

The 10 personalities featured in the eBook were selected based on their outstanding career achievements, whether these were ground breaking deals, philanthropic contributions, lifetime dedication to the industry or simply because they might have inspired others to do better, which certainly makes for interesting reading.

Download the eBook to find out who are the 10 personalities featured!

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About Real Estate Investment World Asia 2013

The 12th annual Real Estate Investment World Asia is the region’s largest and most established convention to showcase the strategies, personalities and companies that represent real estate investment management, development and finance.  This is where institutional investors, property funds, developers and deal makers convene to discuss innovative financing vehicles, investment structures and capital raising strategies across the risk-returns and geographic spectrums for the listed and private property investment community. Download the conference brochure here.

With this acquisition, the new cities that Ascott REIT will be present in are Shanghai, Shenyang, Suzhou, Fukuoka, Sapporo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Saga and Sendai, up from 25 to 32 cities.

The acquisition will boost the trust’s asset size to $3.1 billion, an increment by 11%. And its share of assets from Asia will increase from 59 per cent to 63 per cent of its total asset value.

Chief executive officer of Ascott Residence Trust Management, Ronald Tay said: “Hopefully we will be able to make some acquisitions in the second half of the year. We continue to like Asia very much. So the key markets like Singapore China, and potentially India as well as a new market. For Europe, we will continue to look at Europe on an opportunistic basis. Markets that we like are in Europe include London, Paris and key gateway cities in Germany. “

What are the acquisition growth and asset enhancement plans for Asian REITS? We bring together leading Asian REITs to share their perspective at the upcoming Real Estate Investment World Asia this June in Singapore. Featured Asian REITs include:

• Lynette Leong, Chief Executive Officer, CapitaCommercial Trust Management Limited, Singapore
• Dato Jeffrey Ng, Chief Executive Officer, Sunway REIT Management Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
• Anthony Ang, Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director, ARA Asset Management (Fortune) Limited, Singapore

Download the brochure to view the list of 100+ leading real estate investment experts who will be speaking at the conference.

With that in mind, we have brought together key industry experts who will discuss what is the key to a complete institutional portfolio at a panel discussion at Real Estate Investment World Asia 2013.

Below is the list of speakers participating in the discussion:

Tyler Goodwin, Managing Director, Head of Asian Client Strategy – Global Real Assets, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Hong Kong

Tyler has over 23 years of real asset experience across Asia, the United States and Canada which includes experience in real estate, private equity, investment banking and property development.  At J.P. Morgan Asset Management, he is responsible for advising clients throughout Asia on the opportunities and risks associated with investing in real estate and infrastructure real assets. He has been an investor in both Deutsche Bank’s and J.P. Morgan’s Real Estate Principal Investments Group, where he invested in real estate through equity, debt and structured finance.  He spent 5 years at Urban Land Capital in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Vancouver, working in real estate and private equity and worked in real estate development in Indonesia for 7 years.  Tyler sits on J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Global Advisory Council and on the North Asia Executive Committee of the Washington-based Urban Land Institute. 

Navid Chamdia, Head of Real Estate, Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar

With over a decade of experience, Navid is also responsible for real estate fund investments made by QIA. He is responsible for managing the Qatar Holding international real estate portfolio, which includes a significant stake in Canary Wharf Group (a UK-based commercial real estate company), a significant stake in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur ($1.5 billion retail and mixed-use complex in Kuala Lumpur), the GM Building in New York and various other assets across Europe, Asia, Latin and North America. Prior to joining Qatar Holding / Qatar Investment Authority in 2005, Navid spent 12 years at Ernst & Young Project Finance (London), advising on the financing and delivery of over $10 billion of global real estate and infrastructure projects.   

Dick Van Hal, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer, Bouwinvest Real Estate Investment Management B.V, Netherlands

Dick Van Hal has been the Chairman of the Management Board & Chief Executive Officer of Bouwinvest since his appointment on 1 March 2008.  From 1999 until that time, he held several senior positions at Syntrus Achmea Vastgoed, including Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.  Dick started his career with Centraal Beheer Beleggingen and Staal Bankiers.

Henry Ching, Principal, Mercer LLC, Hong Kong

Henry is part of Mercer’s Asia Pacific real estate boutique and is responsible for investment consulting and research across the private and listed real estate markets in Asia.  Henry has previously worked at Towers Watson (Hong Kong), where he was responsible for researching Asia-focused private markets managers and providing investment consulting services to Asian clients, such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds; as well as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in Toronto, where he was responsible for researching and implementing new asset classes into CPPIB’s investment portfolio, and analysing direct investments.

Over 100 leading real estate investment experts will be sharing their insights and strategies on navigating the Asian market. Download the brochure to view speaker line up.

Stephen will be interviewed by Roy Melick, Partner, Baker & Mackenzie on “Think like a freak: Business and crisis management lessons for profitability”.

The 12th annual Real Estate Investment World Asia is the region’s largest and most established convention to showcase the strategies, personalities and companies that represent real estate investment management, development and finance.

Beside Stephen Dubner, leading industry experts from Lend Lease, Global Logistics Properties, CITIC Capital Holdings, SEB Unvestment GmbH and many others will be at REIW Asia 2013. This is the only conference that brings the entire real estate investment industry at a single plaform!

View the full speaker line-up here. Registration is now open. Book your seat before 31 May and save up to SGD 240!

As stated in its preliminary propsectus, 11 cornerstone investors which include Citadel Asset Management, D E Shaw Valence International, Eastspring Investments and JF Asset Asset Management, have also agreed to subscribe to 163.7 million units at the offering price. The trust is forecasting a yield of 8 per cent for the financial year ending June 30, 2013 and 8.1 per cent the year after.

Singapore is currently one of the more popular countries for companies to do IPO listing. What are the opportunities and challenges for REITS IPOs in South-east Asia?

This June at Real Estate Investment World Asia, we bring together a panel of industry experts to discuss the opportunities and challenges for REITS IPOs in South-east Asia. Panelists include:

• Virapan Pulges, Managing Director, TICON Industrial Connection Public Company Limited, Thailand
• Jason Kern, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Lodging & Advisory – Asia Pacific, HSBC, Hong Kong
• Carol Mills, Assistant Vice President, Strategic Planning – Commercial Business Group, Ayala Land Inc, Philippines

Join over 500 attendees at REIW Asia. Registration is now open. Save up to S$240 when you book your seat today.

Frank forecasts that vacancy rates will fall from 8% to 4% in 2014 while rental will climb 2-4 % next year.

According to Cushman and Wakefield, Tokyo’s CBD is currently the world’s 5th most expensive market to rent office space in. Investors are driving demand for REITs in recent months, resulting in shares of REITs to rise more than 50% YTD, in hopes that Prime Minister Abe’s economic revival plan will drive a recovery in the Japanese property market.

Frank Khoo, Global Head of Real Estate of AXA Real Estate will be sharing his insights at the upcoming Real Estate Investment World Asia 2013 taking place from 25-27 June in Singapore. Book your seat now to learn from leading real estate investment experts.

Following a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed last year, FEOrchard and STC have agreed to a 70-30 joint venture, which will be involved in the fields of hospitality management and hospitality-related real estate investment. STC will contribute its three Australian hotel properties to the joint venture – Rendezvous Grand Hotel Melbourne, Rendezvous Hotel Perth and Rendezvous Studio Hotel Perth Central – along with 13 Rendezvous hotels operated under management contracts. The joint venture will pay STC SG$56.2 million (US$45.4m) for these properties.

FEOrchard meanwhile, will contribute its portfolio of 25 hotel and service residence management agreements, along with a cash contribution of S$97m.

Following the merging of the Far East and STC portfolios, the new joint venture company will initially manage more than 6,000 rooms. But the company said its goal was to become “one of the largest hotel operations in Asia Pacific”.

“This new joint venture combines the strengths of two leading hospitality operators,” said STC’s Chairman, Chew Gek Khim. “The combination of FEOrchard’s operational expertise and STC’s strong hotel presence in Australia and New Zealand through its Rendezvous hotels will create a formidable hospitality joint venture which we plan to expand in their respective and new markets.”

STC recently undertook a major renovation and rebranding programme for its 13 Rendezvous properties, and now operates hotels under three brands – Rendezvous Grand Hotels, Rendezvous Hotels and Rendezvous Studio Hotels – in Singapore, China, Australia and New Zealand. Far East meanwhile operates solely in Singapore.

Read the full article, click here

Hospitality Investment World Thailand 2013, will take place on 12^th-13^th November 2013. Bringing together regional investors, developers, brands, operators, financiers, deal makers and government officials for one common purpose: to do business and capitalise on the fast growing hospitality sector in Thailand.

If you would like to find out more about positioning yourself, your brand and services strategically at this event, contact me at gavin.harris@terrapinn.com

Download our Event Prospectus – click here

At the last Economy Hotel World Asia conference, Jeffrey Klein, Director of Design & Projects from Toga Hospitality, showcased numerous interesting examples from different countries of “mini” lodging space that maximize the use of their space. Some of them are capsule hotels and sleepbox.

His presentation primarily focused on the efficient hotel designs in terms of space and energy efficiency and maintenance design of hotel rooms in the examples. He also highlighted the benefits of the implementation.

Get a copy of his presentation here.

Find out more about the economy hotels at the next Economy Hotel World Asia where experience and insights are showcased, learning is done, new ideas and strategies are exchanged and new business contacts are mad, is happening again next September. Contact us for more information!

Pension funds and liability-driven investments – What is next in the hunt for yields?

Having published extensively in both academic and practitioner journals on a wide range of economic and financial market issues, and ranked as the world’s ninth most prolific finance author of the past fifty years, Andrew Clare , Professor of Asset Management – Cass Business School will share the new standards in LDI benchmarking and its effectiveness in risk hedging.

Think like a freak: Business and crisis management lessons for profitability

An award-winning author, journalist, radio and television personality and co-author of the international bestsellers: Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics, Stephen Dubner  will illustrate how we can use behavioural economics in the modern world to better navigate challenges ahead and present new ways to think about problems in both professional and personal lives.

Behavioural finance and investment decisions in the new economic reality

Author and publisher of a widely read investment newsletter, The Pain Report that provides an independent and global perspective of the financial markets and world economy, Jonathan Pain , Director – J.P. Consulting (NSW) Pty Ltd, who is well known for his contrarian views will further define the role of behavioural finance in shaping and driving investment decisions.

Download the full conference brochure to view the full speaker line up we have in store for you. By the way, we are running an early bird registration offer which closes on 12 April. Check it out here.