Keppel Land China, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corp., has secured a 10.97-ha residential site in the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City (Eco-City) for a total consideration of RMB 1.07 billion ($156 million) in a public land tender listed on Nov. 20, 2018, by the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment & Development Co.
The new site will be developed into an eco-community comprising 392 units of terrace houses and 180 units of low-rise apartments. Targeted at upper-middle income homebuyers, the project is expected to be launched in fourth quarter 2019. The total development cost for the project is expected to be in excess of RMB 1.90 billion (approximately $277 million).
“The Keppel Group leads the Singapore Consortium in the development of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City,” said Ben Lee, president of Keppel Land China. “Over the past decade, Keppel Land has been participating actively in and contributing to the Eco-City’s development. Our eco-friendly homes have been well-received by the market. To date, Keppel Land has launched about 4,500 units of homes in the Eco-City, of which about 98 percent have been sold. A further 346 units of homes will be launched in 2019. We are confident that our new development will continue to attract homebuyers seeking well-located and high-quality green homes.”
The site is located within the mature Start-Up Area of the Eco-City, in close proximity to amenities such as Tianjin Binhai Foreign Language School, Yongding Zhou Cultural Park, No. 1 Community Centre, as well as the mixed-use development, Seasons City, currently being developed by Keppel Land. It is about 20-minute drive away from Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, one of the first national-level economic and technological development areas in China. Upon the completion of the Z4 rail line, the Eco-City’s connectivity to other parts of Tianjin will be enhanced.
The Eco-City is a landmark bilateral project between the governments of Singapore and China to create a practical, scalable and replicable model for sustainable urbanization. After 10 years of development, it has been transformed from barren saline and alkaline land into a beautiful green city, with close to 7,000 registered companies as well as 100,000 people living and working there.
Besides developing eco-friendly residential and commercial projects, several other Keppel businesses are contributing to the Eco-City’s development with solutions for sustainable urbanization, such as water reclamation, energy and engineering services, district heating and cooling and integrated logistics distribution.
The above transaction is not expected to have any significant impact on the net tangible asset per share or earnings per share of Keppel Corporation Limited for the current financial year.
