Keppel Land China and Alpha Investment Partners, together with a co-investor, are partnering to buy an office and retail mixed-use development, SOHO Hongkou (below), in Shanghai for US$525 million ($728 million). Keppel Land China, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Joysville Investment, will own 30% of Vision (III), which holds an indirect 100% stake in SOHO Hongkou. Meanwhile, Alpha’s Alpha Asia Macro Trends Fund III will hold 40%, with the remaining 30% held by its co-investor.

The joint-venture agreement is the second time Keppel Land and Alpha have come together to buy a Shanghai property. In 2013, they teamed up to buy Life Hub @ Jinqiao, an office and retail mixed-use development in Pudong, Shanghai. They divested the acquisition in September 2016, and achieved an internal rate of return of more than 20%.

SOHO Hongkou has a total leasable area of 753,932 sq ft, which includes 702,932 sq ft of office space and 50,999 sq ft of retail space. Designed by Kengo Kuma and completed in 4Q2015, SOHO Hongkou houses tenants such as Panasonic and China Pacific Insurance, and had an occupancy rate of 97% as at March this year.

Credit: Keppel Group