This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
Macquarie Bank is looking to beef up its South Korean property business with the launch of a second 300 Won property trust, Richard Han, head of Macquarie Property Advisors Korea told Bloomberg.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Han said Macquarie Property Advisors Korea is looking for two or three commercial office buildings for the fund.
“We will launch a second REIT with an asset size of 200 billion won to 300 billion won in the second half.
“We will be targeting a yield of around 8% — smaller than the first fund — as there has been yield compression from a shortage of supplies that can’t meet growing demand,” Han told Bloomberg.
Earlier this month, Macquarie and Macquarie Global Property Advisors, a private equity real estate fund advisory company, bought an office development in Seoul for $US125.8 million.
The 19-storey Grade A office tower has a gross floor area of 34,173 sqm and is located near the Seoul City Hall in the Chung-gu Central Business District of Seoul.
At the time, Macquarie Real Estate Asia’s managing director Nick Ridgewell said the purchase represents an expansion of Macquarie’s property management business in the sought-after Korean market.
“We see excellent potential for this property given that the continual improvement of Korea’s economy is underpinning growth in the office market,” MGPA’s managing director Simon Treacy said.
“Chung-gu in the CBD is a prime location, with strong rental growth due to limited supply of prime office space and low vacancy rates of less than 5%. We expect supply to get tighter next year.
“We continue to eye further acquisitions in the Korean real estate market where we see excellent potential for investments that will maximise our returns for investors,” Treacy added.
Macquarie Bank and its property arm is looking towards Asia as the cornerstone for more growth.
Earlier this month, Macquarie Goodman Asia launched the Macquarie Goodman Hong Kong Wholesale Fund, which has a portfolio of Hong Kong properties valued at $A850 million.
By Adam Parsons
