Gaw Capital Partners, through its funds under management, and its consortium partners, acquired 29 Hong Kong-based community shopping centers and associated facilities in March 2018 and March 2019.
Gaw Capital Partners officially started to operate over 29 assets and facilities near the public estates and established “People’s Place”. “People” stands for the public and the residents, whereas “Place” here is an allusion to the idiomatic Chinese term for a location of virtue and tradition, as well as a well-governed community; “Place” also connotes the solidarity of the local neighborhood. All in all, “People’s Place” stands for a place rich in sentiments and compassion, bringing strangers together in constructing a vibrant, cozy living environment. People’s Place aspires to transform obsolete commercial facilities into vibrant community hubs by creatively utilizing its space and bringing brand new experiences to residents, tenants and community stakeholders.
In partnership with experienced educators in China, Gaw Capital has invested in the development and operations of Stellart International School of Arts (SISA), an international arts education platform in China. The platform is initially seeded by a commercial site conveniently located in Sanshan New Town in Nanhai, Foshan, which has excellent connectivity nationally via the Guangzhou South Station. The site has a GFA of c.50,000 sqm in total. Operating under the SISA brand and developed by Gaw Capital Partners, the school houses up to 600 full-time high school students in its 6-storey tall academic block and 7-floor dormitory. 
Tokyo, 27 May 2024 – Real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners announced today that the firm, through a fund under its management, has acquired a property (the “Property”) located in Fuchu Intelligent Park,Fuchu City, Japan. This strategic investment further strengthens the firm’s presence in the well-established data center cluster within 30km from central Tokyo, which is also home to five high-end internet exchange hubs.
The Property is situated near Meito Sangyo Building and Fuchu Building in Fuchu Intelligent Park, both of which wereacquired in 2021 and 2022 respectively by funds under Gaw Capital’s management and are currently undergoingredevelopment into carrier-neutral Tier III data centers as Phase I and II. The new property will be demolished and redeveloped into Phase III of the data centers to capture the expanding demand in the market.
Spanning a land size of 11,233 sqm, the Property’s addition will double the scale of the data centers, resulting in a total land size of 22,202 sqm. Subject to final design, the IT capacity of the data centers is projected to increase from 40 IT MW to 78 IT MW (equivalent to 7,800 racks), which will make it the largest data center facility in Fuchu City in terms of IT capacity. Moreover, beyond the construction economies of scale it brings, the acquisition of the Property is expected to deliver significant strategic value to both the data centers and Gaw Capital’s Pan-Asia IDC Platform.
Isabella Lo, Managing Director, Principal – Investments and Head of Japan at Gaw Capital Partners, said, “We are excited to expand our data center portfolio with the acquisition of this new property. The completion of the transaction allows us to double the scale of our data centers in Fuchu City, positioning us as the largest data center facility in Fuchu City in terms of IT capacity. Technological advancements in Japan, especially the ever-growing development of artificial intelligence (AI), which requires exponential computing power, will continue to drive demand for data centers. The strategic location along with enhanced capabilities of our expanded data center footprint will enable us to deliver exceptional services to our clients across the region.”
Kok Chye Ong, Managing Director – Head of IDC Platform, Asia (Ex-China) of Gaw Capital Partners, added, “This acquisition reinforces the strategic positioning of our Pan-Asia IDC Platform. Japan has a sizable internet economy that is expected to continue growing across all key segments and our data centers attract strong interest from potential operators and hyperscale tenants. We remain optimistic towards the Japanese real estate market and believe our expanded data center capabilities will enable us to meet the evolving needs of businesses seeking reliable and scalable infrastructure solutions in the country.”
With over 3,000 MW of total IT load under development, Japan is among the most developed data center markets in APAC. Despite large volumes of supply coming online in recent years, the Japan internet data center (IDC) market continues to demonstrate strong demand signals, as evidenced by a combined occupancy rate of 91% for Tokyo and Osaka in 2023, based on the Built Out IT capacity which increased from 940 MW in 2020 to 1,202 MW in 2023 with a CAGR of 8.6%.[1]
Gaw Capital Partners remains committed to identifying and capitalizing on opportunities in the data center sector, leveraging our expertise and network to drive long-term value for our investors.
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About Gaw Capital Partners
Gaw Capital Partners is a uniquely positioned private equity fund management company focusing on real estate markets in Asia Pacific and other high barrier-to-entry markets globally.
Specializing in adding strategic value to under-utilized real estate through redesign and repositioning, Gaw Capital runs an integrated business model with its own in-house asset management operating platforms in commercial, hospitality, property development, logistics, IDC and Education. The firm’s investments span the entire spectrum of real estate sectors, including residential development, offices, retail malls, serviced apartments, hotels, logistics warehouses and IDC projects.
Gaw Capital has raised seven commingled funds targeting the APAC region since 2005. The firm also manages value-add/opportunistic funds in the US, a Pan-Asia hospitality fund, a European hospitality fund, a Growth Equity Fund and it also provides services for credit investments and separate account direct investments globally.
Gaw Capital has raised equity of US$22.5 billion since 2005 with assets of US$35.9 billion under management as of Q4 2023.
[1] Source: Structure Research; DC Byte, Japan Data Centre Market Report, 2023