Wanda Group buys key development area in south London

Chinese real estate giant Wanda closed a 470 million pound ($600 million) deal to buy a piece of land in South London’s Nine Elms area on Wednesday, part of the recent hot trend of Chinese investment into London’s commercial property sector.

The 10-acre plot bought by Wanda is known as Nine Elms Square, which already has received government outline consent to build 1,821 flats across three towers of between 32 and 54 storeys. The consent was previously obtained by British company VINCI St. Modwen, who sold Nine Elms Square to Wanda.

VINCI St. Modwen had plans to develop 57 acres of land around the Nine Elms area, which includes the 10 acres sold to Wanda. Following the Wanda deal, VINCI St. Modwen will now focus on other development projects in the area, the company said.

Nine Elms Square is Wanda’s second major real estate investment in the UK. Its first is One Nine Elms, a 88.8 million pound project Wanda inked in 2013, which consists of plans to build 437 homes across two towers rising to 42 and 58 storeys. Construction of One Nine Elms is currently under way, the site is located right next to Nine Elms Square.

Wanda’s investment came at a time of Chinese investment is pouring into London's commercial property at an unprecedented rate, fueled by the pound depreciation resulting from Brexit uncertainties. Data from real estate agent CBRE showed 2.72 billion pounds of Chinese investment in London commercial property the first quarter of 2017, a six fold increase year-on-year.