Morgan Stanley's property arm in China said it had co-developed a mixed-use property in Shanghai's suburban Baoshan area with city developer Anderson Land (China) at an investment of 1.5 billion yuan (US$187.5 million). 

The development, located on Mudanjiang Road in the Baoshan District, which is 30 minutes drive away from downtown, comprises office, retail and leisure space with a total floor area of 150,000 square meters.

The project, dubbed Anderson Plaza, is targeted at international and local manufacturing enterprises, particularly steel companies, as its tenants for office space as Baoshan District houses Baosteel Group, the nation's largest steel maker, the two firms said.

The companies also plan to co-develop a shopping mall, called Edmont Plaza, near Jinqiao Export Processing Zone in Pudong with an investment of more than two billion yuan. The project is expected to be completed by 2008, becoming the second-biggest shopping mall in Pudong after the Yaohan shopping center.

It is said as competition for investment opportunities in primary locations in Shanghai intensifies, more investors were venturing into secondary or even suburban locations for better returns.

Most of the projects that Morgan Stanley, one of the most active foreign institutional investors in China's property market, has acquired in Shanghai are located in downtown locations. But they are shifting their focus as there are fewer quality projects in the central area.

Citigroup's property unit has bought four office blocks in the city's former low-rent industrial district of Zhabei District for about US$65 million earlier this year.

Source:佚名