Mapletree Real Estate Advisors Pte Ltd (“MREAL”) is Mapletree’s private capital management arm headquartered in Singapore and is fully owned by Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd.
SINGAPORE – Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (“Mapletree” or “the Group”) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a prime site in Kwun Tong, Kowloon (Hong Kong SAR) at a price of HK$3.769 billion (approximately S$619 million[1]). Designated primarily for commercial purposes[2], the plot spans a site area of about 5,112 square metres (55,026 square feet).
Flanked by Wai Yip Street and Kwun Tong Road, the site is strategically located within Kowloon East, an existing key office cluster of Hong Kong SAR, which has also been earmarked as the new Central Business District (CBD2) to support Hong Kong SAR’s long-term economic development.
On securing the site, Mapletree plans to develop a Grade-A office building with a total Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 61,344 square metres (660,301 square feet), at a total development cost of more than HK$6 billion (approximately S$1 billion[3]). The planned development will be well-positioned to cater to the growing demand for quality, large and column-free office space to serve as the corporate headquarter and/or for backroom operations. There has been a wave of relocation activities as financial institutions, insurance and logistics companies have started to consolidate their operations in this area. The site enjoys good traffic flow and is within walking distance from Ngau Tau Kok MTR station. The potential underground link to Ngau Tau Kok MTR station and the waterfront promenade would further enhance connectivity and accessibility to the site, and help channel both office and retail needs in the locality to the development which is projected to complete by 2017.
Commenting on the award, Mr Hiew Yoon Khong, Group Chief Executive Officer of Mapletree said, “This is the Group’s second land award in Hong Kong SAR in 12 months, the earlier being the successful bid for a logistics site in Tsing Yi. We are excited at the potential this good-sized site presents and it gives us the opportunity to develop Mapletree’s first greenfield commercial development in Hong Kong SAR. Given the demand for good quality office space in Kowloon, we plan to draw on our experience, particularly in Singapore, in delivering outstanding commercial projects in the region”.
Mapletree’s planned commercial project bodes well with the positive outlook of Hong Kong SAR’s office sector. Hong Kong SAR has been witnessing low vacancy rates in the various major office clusters – Central, Wanchai/Causeway Bay and Kowloon East. There will also be limited Grade-A office supply coming on-stream over the next five years against the increasing expansion demand from businesses particularly in the non-financial sectors.
In addition to the Tsing Yi logistics site, Mapletree Group’s portfolio in Hong Kong SAR consists of the landmark Festival Walk retail and office property, held by Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust, and eight logistics properties under Mapletree Logistics Trust.
[1], [3] Based on HKD-SGD FX rate of 0.1642 as of 15 January 2014 [2] Only for non-industrial (excluding residential, hotel, godown, petrol filling station and residential care home) use
HO CHI MINH CITY – More than 300 wildlife photography enthusiasts and birdwatchers gathered at SC VivoCity in Ho Chi Minh City at the opening and prize presentation ceremony of the ‘Wild Birds and Mammals of Vietnam’ Photography Exhibition. Now in its second year running, this year’s exhibition held from 12 to 17 October focuses on the theme of endangered birds and mammal species in Vietnam, and is jointly organised by WildTour, the Vietnam Wildlife Photography Club and BirdLife International, supported by the Ho Chi Minh City Photography Association (HOPA), and sponsored by Mapletree Investments, Canon Vietnam and Lexar. ‘Wild Birds and Mammals of Vietnam’ is a culmination of a month-long, nationwide photography competition with a focus on Vietnam’s endangered species from July 2024 to early September 2024.
This year’s exhibition profiles wild birds and mammals in Vietnam. Vietnam supports some of the highest concentration of endangered species in Southeast Asia. Of note is Vietnam’s diversity of primates, among the most imperilled primate faunas in the world, and home to the charismatic Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey and the Delacour’s Langur. Similarly, Vietnam’s bird fauna is rich but threatened by habitat loss and trapping for the pet trade. ‘More than 400 images were received by our team, many of them exceptionally high-quality images of some of Asia’s rarest bird and mammal species’, observed Mr Nguyen Truong Sinh, lead organiser of the competition and chairperson of the Vietnam Wildlife Photography Club. He also chaired the judging panel with seven other experts. Dr Yong Ding Li who represents BirdLife International on the panel agreed and noted that the images received were more diverse than the inaugural competition in 2023 and reflects a rapidly growing interest in nature photography in Vietnam.
The Exhibition coincided with the World Migratory Bird Day weekend on 12 October 2024, held twice a year to celebrate the spectacular movement of birds across the globe every Spring and Autumn. Over this time, millions of migratory birds can be expected to be on their journeys across the Asian continent, moving from wetlands to wetlands along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, including here in Vietnam. Several migratory species were featured among the exhibited images, including among them the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Great Knot and Wallcreeper, the last an extremely rare visitor to northern Vietnam.
Mr Edmund Cheng, Chairman, Mapletree, added: “We are pleased to witness our support for environmental awareness in Vietnam gain momentum, starting from our first migratory bird event in 2023 at the wetlands of Can Gio. This commitment is influenced by Mapletree’s environment and education pillars, two of the four pillars under our Corporate Social Responsibility framework to enrich communities in markets where we operate.”
“It was great to see the high quality of submissions received from not just photographers in south Vietnam, but also from further away in Ha Noi and Da Nang. I was particularly impressed with the fantastic selection of Vietnam’s endemic and wild birds documented in these photographs. The selection of mammals was equally impressive, with some of the best shots of the rare Cat Ba Langur. Eventually our committee of judges agreed that the Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey image by Mr Chung Van Thanh was the best of the lot”, observed Mr Nguyen Hoai Bao, director of WildTour and chairperson of the judging panel with five other experts.
This year’s exhibition is the fourth World Migratory Bird Day event supported by Mapletree since 2023, starting from the ‘Celebrating Migratory Birds in Vietnam’ activity organised in Can Gio wetlands by WildTour and BirdLife. In 2024, Mapletree supported the first ever Vietnam Bird Race, held at Tràm Chim National Park. The organisers and supporters of this event plan to build on the success of this year’s event and introduce new elements to attract more bird and nature enthusiasts from across Vietnam. The Vietnam Bird Race will take place annually and the next iteration is slated to be held in May 2025.
Figure 1. Chung Van Thanh’s portrait of a Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey, among Southeast Asia’s rarest mammals, won the first prize.
Figure 1. Chung Van Thanh’s portrait of a Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey, among Southeast Asia’s rarest mammals, won the first prize.
Figure 1. Chung Van Thanh’s portrait of a Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey, among Southeast Asia’s rarest mammals, won the first prize.
Figure 1. Chung Van Thanh’s portrait of a Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey, among Southeast Asia’s rarest mammals, won the first prize.
Figure 1. Chung Van Thanh’s portrait of a Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey, among Southeast Asia’s rarest mammals, won the first prize.
Headquartered in Singapore, Mapletree is a global real estate development, investment, capital and property management company committed to sustainability. Its strategic focus is to invest in markets and real estate sectors with good growth potential. By combining its key strengths, the Group has established a track record of award-winning projects, and delivers consistently attractive returns across real estate asset classes.
The Group manages three Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and nine private equity real estate funds, which hold a diverse portfolio of assets in Asia Pacific, Europe, the United Kingdom (“UK”) and the United States (“US”). As at 31 March 2024, Mapletree owns and manages S$77.5 billion of office, retail, logistics, industrial, data centre, residential and student accommodation properties.
The Group’s assets are located across 13 markets globally, namely Singapore, Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong SAR, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, the UK, the US and Vietnam. To support its global operations, Mapletree has established an extensive network of offices in these countries.
BirdLife International is a partnership of over 122 conservation organisations worldwide covering all continents, landscapes, and seascapes. As a leader in bird conservation, our unique local to global approach enables us to deliver high impact and long-term conservation for the benefit of nature and people. Our mission is to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, while working with people toward sustainability in the use of natural resources. Find out more at www.BirdLife.org
