CapitaLand To Build Sixth Raffles City In Hangzhou

Source : The Business Times, October 20, 2007

It has acquired a 40,355 sq m site for $202.8m

CAPITALAND has acquired a site in the Chinese city of Hangzhou for $202.8 million and says that it will be the location for its sixth Raffles City after those in Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and Bahrain.

Mr Liew: CapitaLand is aiming for 10 Raffles City developments in 5 years

The 40,355 sq m Hangzhou site is in Qianjiang New Town, Jianggan District, and has a gross floor area of 283,568 sq m. The price works out to be about $715 per sq m per plot ratio.

This will be CapitaLand's fourth Raffles City in China. The development will comprise a Grade-A office tower, a retail mall, a five-star hotel as well as residential units, and is expected to be completed by 2011.

On the expansion of the Raffles City brand, CapitaLand Group CEO and president Liew Mun Leong said: 'With growing interests from many countries to have CapitaLand develop a Raffles City in their respective cities, we aim to have a total of 10 Raffles City developments within the next five years.'

CapitaLand is building Raffles City Beijing, targeted for completion in 2008. It is also developing Raffles City Bahrain and has acquired a prime commercial site in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, to build Raffles City Chengdu. Both will be completed in phases from 2010.

Mr Liew said: 'Given the site's excellent location, we are confident Raffles City Hangzhou will become a new landmark in the city, attracting consumers, tourists and business travellers from all over China and beyond.'

He added: 'Last year, we also acquired our first residential site in Hangzhou to build about 1,200 homes. We will look for further opportunities in China to expand our footprint into cities where there are strong real estate opportunities supported by urbanisation and rising income levels.'

Hangzhou is a two-hour, 180 km drive from Shanghai and was ranked by Forbes magazine in 2004, 2005 and 2006 as the top city in China for business.

CapitaLand believes that with the relocation of the municipal government office to Qianjiang New Town, the construction of several subway linkages and the establishment of a new cultural and civic centre, this area of Hangzhou will be transformed into a bustling commercial district.

The Raffles City Hangzhou site will be linked to a proposed subway interchange serviced by Metro Line 1, to be completed in 2010. Metro Line 1 connects directly to the high-speed Maglev train service, which is expected to start operating between Hangzhou and Shanghai by 2010.