SOHO to purchase first Shanghai property

Real estate developer SOHO China will acquire a Shanghai office building currently owned by Morgan Stanley Real Estate, the real estate arm of the US investment bank, for US$359 million, Reuters reported. SOHO will acquire The Exchange building on Shanghai’s main commercial street, Nanjing Road, and rebrand it "The Exchange – SOHO," according to executives from the company. It will be Beijing-based SOHO’s first entry into the Shanghai property market which some analysts said is already overpriced. The Exchange is currently about 30% rented and SOHO will lease or sell the remaining office space. The company’s chairman, Pan Shiyi, said he was confident that SOHO’s model of selling commercial office space to tenants could make the transition into the Shanghai market. Morgan Stanley purchased The Exchange in 2006 for US$292.67 million.