Foreign Property News | Posted by Shwe Zin Win
Financially-troubled mainland conglomerate HNA continued its ongoing series of property disposals on Wednesday as it announced an agreement to sell its Central Hotel Square project in Guangzhou to China Vanke for approximately RMB 1.035 billion ($150 million) in cash, subject to a final review. The deal also includes Vanke assuming an existing mortgage on the property and taking on shareholder loans of RMB 574 million.
The deal would give Vanke rights to HNA Central Hotel Square, a mixed-use complex located in Guangzhou’s suburban Baiyun district, where according to information from the city government, HNA has invested at least RMB 980 million in the project since first acquiring the 23,000 square metre site in 2009.
The disposal of the project, which is expected to yield a total of 177,000 square metres of finished space, is HNA Infrastructure Group’s second project disposal in Guangdong province within the last month, after the Shanghai-listed unit of HNA Group sold its Shenzhen Haihang City commercial complex to local investor Tianji Wealth Group during October.
The purchase also marked the second time within five weeks that China Vanke has agreed to buy a project from HNA after the Shenzhen-based developer signed a deal to purchase the Beijing HNA Plaza office building for RMB 1.29 billion. That disposal of HNA’s former Beijing headquarters was ultimately rejected by the Hainan-based company’s shareholders last month.
HNA Central Hotel Square is a 177,000 square metre (1,905,212 square foot) development that includes grade A office space, a five-star hotel, serviced apartments, and a 20,000 square metre retail centre. The project is HNA’s biggest development in the northern district of Guangzhou, which is also home to the city’s international airport.
The project, which is now partially completed, was named as a key project by the Guangzhou municipal government in 2015, in recognition of its offering the only grade A office tower in its vicinity.
HNA Group has been hurriedly selling off mature real estate assets and unfinished projects since the beginning of this year as it struggles to pay off debts which stood at $96 billion at the end of June.
Ref: Property Report
