Century Bridge concludes investment for $170m maiden fund

Century Bridge Capital, the Beijing and Dallas-based private equity real estate firm, has concluded investments for its debut China development opportunity fund with an investment in a middle-income, residential project in Dalian.

Century Bridge has committed $25 million of equity to a joint venture investment with development local partner, Dalian Guanxin Investment Corporation, effectively winding up the investments for its Century Bridge China Real Estate Fund. The firm raised $170 million for the vehicle from 10 investors in 2012.

PERE revealed in November that Century Bridge was planning to launch a second China development opportunity fund and was targeting $400 million for that vehicle. Then, it had invested 80 percent of its equity and so was past the prerequisite equity invested threshold to draw up plans for a sequel effort.

This latest investment in Dalian follows other outlays by Century Bridge in similarly-themed residential joint ventures in Wuhan, Hangzhou, Wuxi and Zhongshan. The total development cost for this final investment will be $87 million with the capital coming from a mix of the partners’ equity and construction financing.

Century Bridge chief executive officer Tom Delatour, said the deal was consistent with its strategy of buying into a ‘mature submarket’ where there is unfulfilled demand for middle class housing. He said: “Like all the markets we target, Dalian is experiencing increasing levels of affordability, with annual disposable income growth exceeding home price growth.”