Morgan Stanley Sells Shanghai Tower
中国商业房地产开发商Soho中国有限公司(Soho China Ltd., 简称：Soho中国)进行了大本营北京之外的首桩收购，向摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)旗下的一家地产基金支付了约3.6亿美元，买下位于上海主要商业区边缘的一幢52层办公和商业大楼。在香港上市的Soho中国表示，将从9月份开始将楼内办公室出租或以化整为零的方式出售。Soho中国还将负责这幢楼的物业管理，并将其更名为Soho东海广场。SOHO ChinaSoho中国在上海所收购的大厦这桩交易令摩根士丹利的基金获利而退，该基金于2006年8月以大约2.45亿美元的价格买下当时尚未完工的东海广场，并接手建造和升级，然后又卖给了Soho中国。这桩收购交易显示出这家中国最知名的开发商之一的信心，认为随着政府极力让经济重回正轨，中国大陆金融中心的商业房地产将会强劲复苏。虽然经纪商和分析师普遍看好上海办公楼租赁市场的远期前景，但短期看来仍存在挑战，当前写字楼市场供应充足，而租户却因担心全球经济而推迟扩张。高力国际物业顾问有限公司(Colliers International)的数据显示，2009年第二季度，上海顶级办公楼市场空置率达到14.1%，较上季度出现近年来首次增长；与此同时，平均租金较前一季度下降9%。选在这个时候出手收购表明Soho中国认为当前的形势大有潜力。这家开发商多年来一直表示将会坚守自己最了解的北京市场，但最近几个月公司管理人员表示，他们将在深思熟虑后投资其他市场。Soho中国董事长潘石屹周二说，这是我们进入上海的第一步，但绝不会是最后一步。潘石屹表示，他认为和住宅市场相比，上海商业地产的价值被大大低估，并表示他无意投资上海住宅房地产市场。他说，我们只想抄底，不想追涨。东海广场高712英尺，是上海最高的摩天大楼之一，自上世纪90年代中期开建以来曾经数次易手。潘石屹周二说，其出租率约为30%。潘石屹拒绝透露他期望的售价或租价，但Soho中国在北京拥有抢眼的纪录，擅长以“化整为零”的方式出售写字楼，获得比整租更高的收益。由于这桩交易的规模，它对于摩根士丹利来说是一项重要的转让。这家美国投资银行的房地产基金在上海拥有庞大的商业和住宅地产组合，其中很大一部分是在房地产繁荣时期积累的，而房市繁荣在2007年底宣告终结。摩根士丹利发言人周二拒绝置评。Jonathan Cheng相关阅读潘石屹：楼市长期前景仍有赖于经济复苏 2009-04-17SOHO中国关注京沪市场 拟实施收购 2009-03-17潘石屹进军前门受阻 2008-12-24 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年08月19日09:11', '0410.HK'));SOHO 中国有限公司（简称：SOHO中国）英文名称：Soho China Ltd.总部地点：中国大陆上市地点：香港交易所股票代码：0410document.write (truthmeter('2009年08月19日09:11', 'MS'));摩根士丹利英文名称：Morgan Stanley总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：MS
Chinese commercial-property developer Soho China Ltd. made its first acquisition outside its home base of Beijing, paying about $360 million to a Morgan Stanley real-estate fund for a 52-story office and retail tower on the edge of one of Shanghai's main business districts.Hong Kong-listed Soho said it would lease the office space in the building or sell it in pieces, starting in September. Soho also will manage the building, which it is rebranding as The Exchange -- Soho.The transaction offers a profitable exit for the Morgan Stanley fund, which purchased the then-unfinished building in August 2006 for about $245 million and did construction and upgrade work before selling it to Soho.The purchase represents confidence from one of China's highest-profile developers that commercial property in mainland China's financial hub will recover strongly as the government tries to get the economy back on track.Though brokers and analysts are generally positive about the longer-term prospects for Shanghai's office-leasing market, the short term presents immediate challenges, with substantial supply hitting the market at a time when tenants are delaying expansion amid concerns about the global economy.In the second quarter of 2009, Shanghai's top-grade office market saw its first quarter-on-quarter increase in vacancy in recent years, hitting 14.1%, according to property brokers Colliers International. At the same time, Colliers said, average rents fell 9% when compared with the first quarter of the year.The timing of the purchase suggests that Soho sees upside in the current environment. The developer has said for years that it would stick with the Beijing market it knows best, though company executives have said in recent months that they would invest in other markets after careful consideration.'Although this is our first foray into Shanghai, it certainly won't be our last,' Soho Chairman Pan Shiyi said Tuesday.Mr. Pan said he still saw commercial property in Shanghai as 'undervalued' compared with the residential market, adding that he had little interest in investing in the city's residential property market. 'We want to buy where prices are cheap, rather than chasing rising prices,' he said.The building, one of Shanghai's tallest skyscrapers at a height of 712 feet, had changed hands a few times since construction began in the mid-1990s. Mr. Pan said Tuesday that about 30% of the office space is being leased.Mr. Pan declined to say at what prices he hoped to sell or lease the office space, but Soho has a strong track record in Beijing for selling pieces of office space at a premium to what the whole building might fetch.For Morgan Stanley, the transaction is a key divestment, given its size. The U.S. investment bank's real-estate funds have a large portfolio of commercial and residential properties in the Shanghai area, much of it accumulated during the property boom that ended in late 2007.A Morgan Stanley spokesman declined to comment Tuesday.Jonathan Cheng
Chinese commercial-property developer Soho China Ltd. made its first acquisition outside its home base of Beijing, paying about $360 million to a Morgan Stanley real-estate fund for a 52-story office and retail tower on the edge of one of Shanghai's main business districts.Hong Kong-listed Soho said it would lease the office space in the building or sell it in pieces, starting in September. Soho also will manage the building, which it is rebranding as The Exchange -- Soho.The transaction offers a profitable exit for the Morgan Stanley fund, which purchased the then-unfinished building in August 2006 for about $245 million and did construction and upgrade work before selling it to Soho.The purchase represents confidence from one of China's highest-profile developers that commercial property in mainland China's financial hub will recover strongly as the government tries to get the economy back on track.Though brokers and analysts are generally positive about the longer-term prospects for Shanghai's office-leasing market, the short term presents immediate challenges, with substantial supply hitting the market at a time when tenants are delaying expansion amid concerns about the global economy.In the second quarter of 2009, Shanghai's top-grade office market saw its first quarter-on-quarter increase in vacancy in recent years, hitting 14.1%, according to property brokers Colliers International. At the same time, Colliers said, average rents fell 9% when compared with the first quarter of the year.The timing of the purchase suggests that Soho sees upside in the current environment. The developer has said for years that it would stick with the Beijing market it knows best, though company executives have said in recent months that they would invest in other markets after careful consideration.'Although this is our first foray into Shanghai, it certainly won't be our last,' Soho Chairman Pan Shiyi said Tuesday.Mr. Pan said he still saw commercial property in Shanghai as 'undervalued' compared with the residential market, adding that he had little interest in investing in the city's residential property market. 'We want to buy where prices are cheap, rather than chasing rising prices,' he said.The building, one of Shanghai's tallest skyscrapers at a height of 712 feet, had changed hands a few times since construction began in the mid-1990s. Mr. Pan said Tuesday that about 30% of the office space is being leased.Mr. Pan declined to say at what prices he hoped to sell or lease the office space, but Soho has a strong track record in Beijing for selling pieces of office space at a premium to what the whole building might fetch.For Morgan Stanley, the transaction is a key divestment, given its size. The U.S. investment bank's real-estate funds have a large portfolio of commercial and residential properties in the Shanghai area, much of it accumulated during the property boom that ended in late 2007.A Morgan Stanley spokesman declined to comment Tuesday.Jonathan Cheng