Goodman to pour a few billion into China

Goodman to pour a few billion into China
By Gareth Powell, July 9, 2007
Consider, for a moment, the problems of the Chinese government. It wants to cool down the real estate market. It brings in a series of carefully graded steps planned to do just that without pricking the bubble.

On the other side, as it were, you have Goodman, which is the world’s second-largest industrial property developer. It plans to invest some $2 to $3 billion in the next three to five years in China.

Goodman, which entered China two years ago, has so far developed and owns $200 million of industrial properties in the country. So far it has concentrated on Shanghai.

David van Aanholt, CEO of Goodman Asia-Pacific (the company was formerly known as Macquarie Goodman and is Australia’s biggest listed industrial property firm) said it will ‘have $2 to $3 billion of industrial properties in China under its management three to five years from now.’

China currently accounts for less than 0.25% of Goodman’s annual investment globally, which as Aanholt pointed out makes it simplistic to conclude ‘there is lots of room to grow in the country’.
Goodman will mainly set its sights on China’s top cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou for expansion.

Goodman mainly develops and manages warehousing, distribution facilities, non-CBD offices and back-office spaces which is a pleasant change. Normally it does not do luxury accommodation.

In China, it will primarily focus on warehouses and distribution facilities. The demand for warehousing and distribution facilities will surge in the coming years in China, which Aanholt correctly said is increasingly becoming the world’s manufacturing hub. (The illustration is not an artist’s idea of what the company will build in China. It is a model of what it will build elsewhere but it gives the general idea.)
Source: China Daily