Singapore’s Keppel Land Makes First Property Investment in U.S.

Keppel Land Ltd. (KPLD), Singapore’s third-biggest developer by value, made its maiden investment in the U.S. with a prime residential development in New York City.
The project is valued at about $70 million, the company said in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange. The property, located on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, will be developed by Macklowe Properties Inc., a New York-based real estate developer, Keppel said.
Singapore builders are expanding overseas as government measures to curb record residential prices slow demand at home. Pontiac Land Group, owner of the Singapore Ritz-Carlton, said in October it is investing $200 million to revive a project for a 72-story residential tower adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art in midtown Manhattan. OUE Ltd. agreed to buy U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, California’s tallest building, for $367.5 million in March 2013.

“Keppel Land will continue to invest opportunistically in key global cities with good growth potential, while remaining focused on Asia, with Singapore and China as our core markets,” Ang Wee Gee, chief executive officer of Keppel Land, said in the statement.
Manhattan has a low inventory for condominiums, according to a report by Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Listing inventory fell to a 14-year low of 4,164 units in the fourth quarter of 2013. It rose by 18 percent in the quarter ended June 30 to 5,659 units from the same period a year earlier, according to the broker.
Keppel Land shares have gained 6 percent this year compared with the 7.6 percent gain in the 49-stock FTSE Strait Times Real Estate Index.