'Last bucket' hailed at NY Hudson Yards project's first building    

Developers of a massive New York real estate project celebrated a major milestone on Wednesday with the pouring of a "last bucket" of cement on the first building slated to be finished at the Hudson Yards site on Manhattan's west side. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

OCT 8, 20155:19 PM

[NEW YORK] Developers of a massive New York real estate project celebrated a major milestone on Wednesday with the pouring of a "last bucket" of cement on the first building slated to be finished at the Hudson Yards site on Manhattan's west side.

Plans for the 28-acre development include 17 million square feet of commercial and residential space, shops, restaurants, a public school and a luxury hotel, according to its website.

Retailer Coach Inc is scheduled in March 2016 to be the first tenant to occupy the building, 10 Hudson Yards, the largest commercial building ever erected in New York out of concrete, said Jeff Blau, chief executive of Related Companies, one of the site's developers along with Canada's Oxford Properties Group.

Mr Blau said the Hudson Yards developers are closely monitoring a pending vote in December on whether Congress will renew the EB-5 jobs program, in which foreigners can lend a minimum $500,000 to a project in exchange for gaining US residency.

Hudson Yards has received US$600 million mostly from Chinese investors under the EB-5 program and expects to raise a similar amount from a more diversified group of foreigners, he said.

A Related spokeswoman said the EB-5 money, while minor to the project's US$20 billion cost was critical in financing a key piece of infrastructure, the so-called platform, where traditional financing was all but non-existent.

The platform serves as the foundation for Hudson Yards, which is being built atop tunnels under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan's Penn Station, as well as over 30 active train tracks.

The developers consider the site to be the largest privately funded real estate project in US history.

Equity investors in the first phase of the Hudson Yards include JPMorgan Asset Management and the Kuwait Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund. Construction financing is being provided by a syndicate led by Starwood Property Trust Inc.

Ten Hudson Yards, a 52-story building with 1.7 million square feet of space, is 85 per cent leased now, with other tenants to be announced shortly, Mr Blau said at the "topping out"ceremony. The tower is expected to be fully occupied by the end of 2016, he said.

REUTERS

      

Norway sovereign wealth fund to invest in Tokyo office properties

Norway's Norges Bank Investment Management, the manager of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, will target Tokyo's prime office buildings as it starts investing in Japan, said Karsten Kallevig, the fund's chief investment officer for real estate. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

OCT 8, 20155:13 PM

[TOKYO] Norway's Norges Bank Investment Management, the manager of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, will target Tokyo's prime office buildings as it starts investing in Japan, said Karsten Kallevig, the fund's chief investment officer for real estate.

The fund, built on revenues from the country's oil and gas production, is planning to seek local partners to co-invest in Tokyo properties, Mr Kallevig told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. He declined to disclose financial targets for the investments.

The fund, which manages US$880 billion in assets, has only recently been allowed to invest outside Europe. Its initial focus in Asia will be Tokyo and Singapore, where the economy is expected to grow further, Mr Kallevig said, in Japan for the formal opening of the fund's Tokyo office.

Even though the fund is on its track to increase its property portfolio to as much as 5 per cent of its assets while it cuts bond holdings, it has no immediate plans to add other Asian cities to its target cities, he said.

The fund first broadened its investment targets outside Europe in 2013, targeting properties in the United States.

REUTERS

    
 

Indonesia says to become associate Opec member at Paris meet, alongside China and Mexico

Indonesia's Energy Minister Sudirman Said gestures during an interview with Reuters at his office in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept 28, 2015. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

OCT 8, 20151:43 PM

[JAKARTA] Indonesia will become an associate member of Opec at a meeting in Paris in November, alongside China and Mexico, Indonesia's energy minister said on Thursday.

Energy minister Sudirman Said also said Indonesia would become a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA). "Our engagement with Opec, IEA and others is important," Mr Said told reporters, adding that the role would mean Indonesia would be more involved in international diplomacy and "form a bridge between oil producers and consumers."

REUTERS