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Return of institutional capital and increasing industrial investment deals

Institutional investors and real estate funds sped up their hunt for industrial assets. In fact, among the aforesaid HKD1.9 billion transactions, all were acquired by funds or institutional investors. In January 2021, Kailong, a fund manager active in Greater China, acquired Hang Fat Industrial Building near Lai Chi Kok station. This property is expected to be redeveloped into a new industrial office building3 . Another pan-Asian fund manager, SilkRoad, also purchased Smile Centre near Fanling station, which is currently leased for logistics use. Meanwhile, Goodman purchased ground floor to fourth floor of Seapower Industrial Centre in Kwun Tong, with cold storage facilities, for HKD570 million (USD 73.5 million).

Looking into 2021, we believe institutional capital and funds will become more active again, given the pent-up acquisition requirements that have piled up over the last 18 months due to the market uncertainties, which now seem to be easing. Compared to the retail and office sector, industrial properties demonstrated a high level of resilience and stability in terms of rents and capital values. Meanwhile, the industrial Revitalisation Scheme 2.0 also presented investors with redevelopment opportunities, and some investors are eyeing the relaxed plot ratio restrictions to improve the return on their investments with higher floor area ratios.

Rajah & Tann's Sustainability Practice brings to you the inaugural issue of the Sustainability Updates which shares with you insights distilled from conversations between our Sustainability Partners and experts across sectors and domains on key environmental, social and governance ("ESG") developments and trends. In this issue, Lee Weilin and Soh Lip San, our Partners with the Sustainability Practice, explore ESG issues in infrastructure projects by speaking with Seth Tan, Executive Director of Infrastructure Asia ("InfraAsia"), on his views on green and sustainable infrastructure and ESG factors for bankable projects in the region.

APREA advocates the adoption of ESG and Sustainability Best Practices in the real assets industry. Making sustainable investment decisions is increasingly a part of APREA members’ DNA, and APREA is committed to be at the forefront of that transition to a net-zero world.