Global real estate developer Tishman Speyer sold a 10-building Shanghai office campus with well-known tenants such as Nike for $1.1 billion, the latest sign investor appetite remains strong for coveted properties even as economic concerns slow real estate investment in markets including the United States.
The Springs Center was sold to a Chinese yuan-dominated fund co-managed by Singapore-based global real estate investment manager CapitaLand Investment, according to Tishman Speyer, known for high-profile projects such as New York’s Rockefeller Center redevelopment. Tishman Speyer said the year-end sale represents one of the largest real estate transactions in China in 2022.
The 2.12 million-square-foot office complex consists of 10 buildings that opened in phases between 2014 and 2019. At the time of sale, the mega mixed-use complex was 99% leased to companies that include Dial soap parent Henkel and ByteDance-owned Douyin Group, producer of the Chinese version of the short-form video hosting service TikTok.
Real estate developers such as New York-based Tishman Speyer have taken their playbooks worldwide in response to the flight-to-quality trend of tenants seeking top-tier properties with outdoor access and high marks for sustainability. The Springs office campus, for instance, boasts a LEED Gold-certified environmental ranking.
Located adjacent to a 33-acre ecological reserve, the complex also features an array of public parks, gardens, playgrounds and other open spaces. The office campus was built in the first phase of Tishman Speyer’s Springs development, which the project website said is the developer’s largest in China, beginning in 2011 on the site of a former military airfield. It’s set to include nearly 10 million square feet of offices, new residences, hotels, restaurants, retail, entertainment and cultural venues.
A Tishman Speyer spokesperson declined to specify to CoStar News what led to Tishman Speyer’s decision to sell and whether the price was in line with the company’s expectations.
Previous Major Deal
The deal is Tishman Speyer’s second major transaction at the Springs over the past 18 months. In June 2021, it sold four under-development office buildings totaling 2.1 million square feet to ByteDance, which plans to use them for its regional headquarters, according to Tishman Speyer.
“Just over a decade ago, we set out to create a dynamic mixed-use community, anchored by the world’s most technologically advanced companies,” Tishman Speyer CEO Rob Speyer said in a statement announcing the sale.
He added that the Springs project is moving toward its “final stages” of development, that includes a pair of skyscrapers Tishman Speyer is building that feature hanging and rooftop gardens.
In New York, the company’s under-construction Spiral office tower on Manhattan’s far west side touts a cascading series of landscaped terraces and hanging gardens as its signature design element. As evidence the features can attract big tenants, global bank HSBC signed one of New York’s largest office deals of 2022 there.
Tishman Speyer, which operates in 33 markets across the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America, is also known for projects including TaunusTurm, a 40-story tower located in Frankfurt’s financial district, and the Mission Rock waterfront neighborhood being built in San Francisco.