Blackstone Group is trying to spend money on extra properties in Singapore to capitalize on the rising demand for workplace house amongst increasing expertise corporations within the city-state.

The plans come after the U.S. personal fairness agency introduced yesterday that it was shopping for Lucasfilm’s state-of-the-art facility, The Sandcrawler, for $ 176 million, confirming a Bloomberg report in January.

Blackstone is trying to make investments for the long run in prime quality property with excessive yields, stated Alan Miyasaki, head of actual property acquisitions in Asia, in an interview.

That will require having a strong tenant roster, like these at The Sandcrawler, which is residence to Walt Disney Co and the Authorities Expertise Company.

The transfer underscores the enchantment of Singapore’s actual property property to overseas traders because the monetary hub widens its enchantment to tech corporations.

US giants Amazon and Fb and their Chinese language counterparts Alibaba Group Holding and ByteDance are among the many corporations which can be making the city-state a bridgehead for Southeast Asia.

The Sandcrawler Settlement marks Blackstone’s first actual property acquisition in Singapore as a part of its core plus technique, the place it at present has US $ 3.6 billion ($ 4.79 billion) in property underneath administration in Asia.

Situated in a north, town’s largest enterprise park, the constructing was impressed by the Sandcrawler fortresses within the Star Wars movies and was utilized by Lucasfilm.

Tech corporations wish to take up house in low-rise enterprise park buildings, and never essentially in monetary district skyscrapers, Miyasaki stated.

He identified that Seize Holdings and Sea’s e-commerce enterprise, Shopee, has places of work within the space the place the Sandcrawler is situated.

“Earlier than, tall skyscrapers have been actually cool,” he stated. “If we will purchase 5 extra Sandcrawlers, we’ll.”

Increasingly more tech and content material corporations will increase their presence in Singapore over time, he stated, citing its skill to guard mental property as a cause.

Geopolitical tensions elsewhere additionally make town a comparatively engaging possibility.

Singapore is “the one place that everybody agrees on,” Miyasaki stated. “It is just like the Switzerland of Asia.”

BLOOMBERG