Excel Realty Holdings, LLC, a San Diego-based real estate development, investment and management firm, has announced it has completed the acquisition of a grade A, 17-storey office tower in the Beijing Finance Street district for an undisclosed dollar amount.

According to Gary B. Sabin, Excel Chairman/CEO, Excel is “the first investment firm from the West” to purchase a Class A office tower in Beijing Finance Street . Named Excel Centre Beijing, the building was completed in Dec 2006 and New York 's Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Ltd. of New York provided the master plan for the area.

Despite noting that grade A space is limited in Beijing , Sabin says “The government is offering incentives to foreign financial institutions which relocate to the area.” In 2006, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, UBS and other major financial institutions relocated to Finance Street .

Other investment banks such as Merril Lynch are also looking to invest in grade A space in Beijing (RFP Magazine Issue 10). However of all Asian office real estate markets overall Beijing is slower than than most. Dorothy Leung, Director, Asset Services, CBRE responsible for leasing and management of the Beijing Prosper Centre in Beijing 's Chaoyang District says this is because there is a large variation in what is termed “grade A”. True grade A is consistently filled and tenants pay a premium while the increasing number of new yet lesser buildings have seen rents dropping and vacancy on the rise. (RFP Magazine issue 27)

Having researched and prepared China market entry for five years, Sabin exercised caution by hiring a “team of engineers” specially to oversee the construction. “We have set a new standard for the area and will maintain our own on-site property management team to ensure quality tenant relationships.”

“We spent almost five years researching and preparing for our move into China ,” Sabin said. “Our own staff monitored the progress of construction to ensure that the Excel Centre Beijing would be built to the highest quality standards that international tenants demand.

“The vision the Beijing government presented to us several years ago is finally becoming a reality,” said Spencer G. Plumb, Excel's Senior Vice President. RFP

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