JLL & Colonial plant seed for retail domination

JONES Lang LaSalle and Colonial First State Property Management have started up a retail property management company in Asia.

The company named Sandalwood will be the first integrated retail development and management service provider to operate across Asia.

Sandalwood’s scope of retail services will include consultancy, leasing, development and shopping centre management. Its head office will be located in Singapore and the company will launch its operations in two phases. The first phase covers Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia and India.

Stewart Hutcheon has been appointed as the new chief executive of Sandalwood.

Hutcheon is well known and highly regarded by the retail management and property development community in Australia. He was recently a director of leasing and deputy managing director of AMP Capital Shopping Centres, managing $9 billion of shopping centres. Prior to that, he spent over seven years at Westfield.

“We are excited by the opportunities that lie ahead for Sandalwood. The retail business in Asia is growing and the pace is expected to accelerate, especially in markets such as China and India. The market and business outlook is extremely positive and Sandalwood is well-positioned to be an industry leader in the active retail sector in Asia.” Hutcheon said.

JLL’s Asia Pacific chief executive Peter Barge said this joint venture comes at an opportune time, when the retail sector in Asia is enjoying robust growth, buoyed by consistently strong economic performance, positive consumer sentiment and increasing affluence in the region.

“Results of our latest annual Retailer Sentiment Survey also showed broad retailer optimism in Asia, with 76% of survey respondents anticipating higher growth in turnover in 2008 and nine out of ten survey respondents planning to expand their retail operations. All these positive indicators present tremendous retail opportunities for the new joint venture company.”

“By leveraging on JLL’s extensive geographic footprint in Asia and global connections with European and US retailers as well as CFSPM’s proven expertise in property development, intensive asset management and strategic leasing, Sandalwood is well positioned to capitalize on these opportunities,” Barge concluded.

“With over 20 years’ experience, our property development model relies on an intensive asset management focus, allowing us to operate more like owners aiming to maximize the income and long term asset value by drawing on the breadth and depth of our in-house research capabilities, as well as our understanding of broader retail and consumer trends,” CFSPM’s head Darren Steinberg said.

CFSPM currently manages 36 centres in Australia including the Chadstone Shopping Centre in Victoria, Chatswood Chase in Sydney and QueensPlaza in Brisbane.

Australian Property Journal