Singapore's billionaire Kwee family sets sights on China property deals

One of Singapore's biggest landlords, the billionaire Kwee family, hopes to expand its portfolio into China and Europe after it announced its involvement in a 72-storey residential tower adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan.

Pontiac Land Group plans to invest US$200 million in the project, said Michael Su, chief executive officer. Pontiac will team up with Goldman Sachs and Houston-based property firm Hines, existing partners for the development.

"We are Singapore-centric and our New York city investment is a significant step outside our comfort zone," Su said.

"The US is a big market and we would like to stay. If opportunities present themselves in China and Europe, we will not rule out these markets."

The tower in Manhattan has been planned since 2007, when Hines selected Paris-based architect Jean Nouvel. The Pritzker Architecture Prize winner is known for such wildly diverse projects as the muscular Guthrie Theatre in the US city of Minneapolis and the exotically louvred Arab World Institute in Paris.

Hines and Goldman Sachs Real Estate Principal Investment Area acquired the 18,000 sq ft site for US$125 million from the museum in 2007, according to Pontiac Land.