Macau: a Gamblers Paradise, China's Las Vegas

Firms chase large space in Manhattan towers project

Strategic investors are in talks with MacauLand and Citigroup Property Investors to buy one of two towers in their joint-venture luxury residential project in Taipa.

Zach Coleman

Friday, February 10, 2006

Strategic investors are in talks with MacauLand and Citigroup Property Investors to buy one of two towers in their joint-venture luxury residential project in Taipa.
The partners plan to begin public sales of apartments in the project, called The Manhattan, in May. Its 169 units are to be ready for occupancy next February.

MacauLand principal Dan Tagliere said he expects prices to start at about 3,000 patacas (HK$2,913) per square foot. He said a number of companies are interested in buying blocks of units in the towers to house staff. The partners plan to retain ownership of a large number of units for leasing.

Two-thirds of the apartments are three-bedroom and the rest have four bedrooms. Unit size ranges from 1,626 square feet to 2,492 sq ft.

Fellow MacauLand principal Benjamin Kao said he expects most units will be occupied by expatriate executives, but added that rising incomes are leading more Macau residents to consider trading up from old, paid-off apartments.

The joint venture partners aim to position The Manhattan as an international-class development. "We want to do for the residential market what Sands did for the gaming market," Kao said.

The Manhattan will feature a 17,000 sq ft clubhouse, shuttle bus service to the city center, air-conditioned elevators and concierge service. Flats will be furnished with high-quality appliances, including wine refrigerators and dual heater/air-conditioners. Buyers will be offered pre-set furniture packages.

British property company Savills will manage The Manhattan, which Kao said will make the towers the first residential buildings in Macau managed by an international company. He believes this will help the development to enforce rules on residents to keep up an upmarket atmosphere at The Manhattan. The project also marks the first Macau investment by Citigroup Property Investors, a unit of US bank Citigroup which invests client and bank funds together in real estate.

Kao and Tagliere declined to say how much the joint venture is investing in the project. Hong Kong-listed Upbest Group said last year that it would spend about HK$95 million to build a 64-unit apartment building on a site across the street from The Manhattan. The company agreed to pay HK$27 million for its site, which at 7,201 sq ft is less than a quarter the size of The Manhattan's.

The joint venture bought The Manhattan site from local company San You Development, which built the high-end Kingsville project next door.

Formosa Group and Global Property Partners, both Hong Kong-based real estate investment funds set up by Tagliere and Kao, originally bought 27 apartments in Kingsville in 2004 for leasing to expats through their company Quadrangle Properties. High returns from that led Tagliere and Kao into their deal with Citigroup and San You to take over the freehold site that had been intended for Kingsville's second phase.

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