Singapore Gov grabs slice of Japan

THE Singapore Government's real estate investment arm GIC Real Estate has snared Hawks Town, a shopping and leisure development in Fukuoka City, Japan.

GIC RE has bought the property from Colony Capital.

Hawks Town spans over an area of 169,157 sqm, consisting the Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome, JAL Resort Sea Hawk Hotel Fukuoka and Hawks Town Mall, and is managed by Hawks Town Corporation.

Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome is a multi-purpose indoor stadium with a 35,773- seating capacity and is the home of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, one of Japan‘s top professional baseball teams.

JAL Resort Sea Hawk Hotel Fukuoka is one of the largest hotels in Japan with 1,052 rooms, and is managed by JAL Hotels Co and the Hawks Town Mall is an 81,445 sqm shopping centre consisting of 107 stores.

In addition to shopping and dining, the Mall offers a wide array of facilities for entertainment and relaxation, including a natural hot spring, a large concert hall, movie theatres and an amusement centre.

Fukuoka City is in Fukuoka Prefecture which has a population of over 5 million people. It is a major city in Kyushu, Japan‘s third largest island, and is one of Japan‘s five largest cities, after Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya and Sapporo.

Hawks Town Corporation, led by its representative director, Toshio Masui of Colony Capital, will continue to manage the development.

GIC RE’s president Dr Seek Ngee Huat said this acquisition is in line with the company’s strategy to build a global portfolio of diverse assets.

GIC RE manages a multi-billion dollar portfolio of direct and indirect property investments with over 150 investments in more than 30 countries.

It is one of the largest institutional investors in Asia and currently ranks amongst the world’s top 10 global real estate investment firms.

Australian Property Journal