The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has committed $198 million to a massive real estate development project in Suzhou, China.
The fund is investing in the Times Paradise Walk project, a 735,000 square meter space consisting of residential, retail, office and hotel space.
From a release:
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Longfor Properties Company Ltd. (Longfor) announced today that they have formed a new joint venture for a major mixed-use development project in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
The new joint venture was formed on December 23, 2014 with CPPIB committing RMB 1,250 million (C$234 million) to jointly develop the Times Paradise Walk project in Suzhou, the fifth most affluent city in China with a population of 10 million. The mixed-use development is an integrated project comprising residential, office, retail and hotel space covering a total gross floor area of 735,000 square metres. It is designed to be a top quality, one-stop commercial destination in Suzhou with completion scheduled in multiple phases between 2016 and 2019.
“This is CPPIB’s first direct joint venture in a mixed-use development in China and we are pleased to be doing this alongside Longfor, a well-respected and experienced developer in China,” said Jimmy Phua, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Investments Asia for CPPIB. “We look forward to building a long-term strategic partnership with Longfor that will allow CPPIB to continue to invest in large scale mixed-use and retail projects in China, a market in which we see long-term growth potential.”
Located in the heart of the Central Business District of the Suzhou Gaoxin District with connections to the subway lines, Times Paradise Walk Suzhou, which started construction in 2013, has already received strong responses following two separate residential launches in 2014 with total contract sales of RMB 1.9 billion.
The CPPIB manages $234.4 billion for the Canada Pension Plan.
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