ST : Yanlord and Reco Yizhong to develop Chengdu site

Jun 10, 2010

Yanlord and Reco Yizhong to develop Chengdu site

A UNIT of Singapore-listed developer Yanlord Land Group and an affiliate of GIC Real Estate are jointly developing a large prime residential site in the south-west Chinese city of Chengdu.

GIC Real Estate's affiliate, Reco Yizhong, will work with Yanlord to develop the project, backed by US$300 million (S$424 million) in registered capital.

GIC Real Estate is the property arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).

Yanlord has already notched up successes in Chengdu, including Hengye International Plaza, a commercial development, and Hengye Star Garden, a high-end residential development.

To facilitate the new project, the two parties have set up a joint venture firm, Yanlord Property Investments (YPI) - 75 per cent of it owned by Yanlord's unit Yanlord Land and 25 per cent owned by Reco.

The joint venture has, in turn, teamed up with a unit of Yanlord Land, Yanlord Land Chengdu, to set up a new subsidiary, Yanlord Real Estate Chengdu, to undertake the Chengdu development.

Yanlord Land Chengdu has a 60 per cent stake in the new unit while YPI has a 40 per cent stake in the entity, which has a registered capital of US$300 million.

The development site is in Panchenggang in the Jinjiang district of Chengdu.

The upcoming project, with a total planned gross floor area of about 390,660 sq m, will be connected to one of the city's metro lines via the Gangguanchang station, operational in 2012.

It will also be located close to attractions in the city such as the Sha River and Tazishan Park, an announcement from the Yanlord Land Group said yesterday.

Tazishan Park is an area set aside for Chengdu's ecological park and the construction of schools.

The project site is also close to Chengdu's central business district, Tianfu Square.

Chengdu, with a population of about 11 million, is in China's Sichuan province.

HARSHA JETHNANI