Wheelock property sold for HK$780m
Wheelock Properties has sold an industrial complex in Hong Kong to Singapore-listed Mapletree Logistics Trust for HK$780 million.
The property trust, owned by Temasek Holdings, said it bought 52 per cent of warehousing units and car-parking space at the Grandtech Centre in Sha Tin for HK$1,532 per square foot. The acquisition is expected to be completed this quarter.
Grandtech Centre is a 22-storey warehouse and industrial building with a total gross floor area of 509,180 square feet. The property was expected to generate a total return of 10.15 per cent over the next 10 years, Mapletree said.
The average rent at the 11-year-old building rose to HK$8 per square foot this year from HK$7 per square foot last year, said Nicky Cheung, deputy sales director of the industrial department at Centaline Property. Property agents estimated the occupancy rate of the building was more than 80 per cent.
Mapletree has been snapping up other properties in Sha Tin including three industrial buildings, Ever Gain Centre and two Ever Gain buildings. The new acquisition would boost its total warehouse space in the district to 1.67 million square feet.
'With the tight supply market for warehousing space in Hong Kong, there is room for positive rental reversions over the next few years,' said Chua Tiow Chye, chief executive officer of Mapletree Logistics Trust Management.
The portfolio value under the trust would reach S$2.2 billion (HK$11.29 billion) with the new deal, compared with S$1.4 billion at the end of last year.
Wheelock Properties began to offload its non-core properties last year. The developer sold an office floor at Tower One of South Seas Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui for HK$87 million last month.
Shares in Wheelock Properties rose 0.54 per cent to close at HK$9.35 yesterday.
