RREEF enters China

Fresh from its deal to buy into UK ports group Peel Ports, the global real estate manager has announced its involvement in a residential scheme in Zhuhai.

RREEF has made its first move into China by teaming up with a group of Chinese co-investors to develop a $225 million (€175 million) mid-market residential scheme in the southern province of Zhuhai on the Chinese coast.

The project, known as Zhongzhu Uptown, will include approximately 2,000 apartments and a small number of shops that will be built on a 100,000–square-meter parcel of land in the northwestern district of the city.

RREEF and its partners are planning to develop affordable apartments mainly for middle class owner-occupiers. The residential units will be developed in a series of 20 towers over the next three years.

Zhuhai is situated within an area known as the Pearl River Delta, which is growing quickly as an industrial and manufacturing base. The city, with a population of 50million, is near the gambling center of Macau.

Kurt Roeloffs, Asia Pacific Head of RREEF, said in a statement: “RREEF has been actively looking for the right entry opportunity to China for some time. We like the middle-income residential sector where we believe there is strong economic demand and a structural shortage of supply. Our project is located in one of China’s fastest growing economic centers and we are delivering the project with experienced local partners.”

Its partners are New Genesis International, controlled by Macanese real estate investor Kenny Leong, and Zhuhai Zhong Zhu Stock Limited. Zhong Zhu is project manager responsible for undertaking the development and management of the scheme.

RREEF, which is the real estate and infrastructure management business of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management group, has the largest stake in the project company at 50 percent but the firm not revealed the size of its investment.

The news comes just a day after RREEF announced taking a stake in UK ports group Peel Ports.