How The Land Lies

Three CEOs shed light on how the industrial, healthcare, and retail and office real estate sectors have been impacted by the pandemic – and how their companies are moving forward.

- Koh Yuen Lin

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Tony Lombardo, CEO, Lendlease Asia Holdings

While circuit breaker scenes – nary a vehicle in the Central Business District, and once-glitzy shopping belts deserted and lifeless – might appear to be straight out of an apocalyptic movie, it isn’t the end of the world. Tony Lombardo, CEO of Lendlease Asia, is confident the office and retail real estate sectors will bounce back.

He cites the examples of Chinese cities that have progressively returned to normal since April. “All of our construction sites in China are back at 100 per cent and our large developments are back to 95 per cent capacity. While we don’t own malls in China, we have talked to businesses and they say their malls have about 80 to 85 per cent traffic. Office activity is also back to normal – there doesn’t seem to be a material shift. It takes a while for people to have the confidence to come out again, but China is a good example of how things can return to normal.”

Outside of China, Lombardo shares that Malaysian malls which reopened early last month saw a return of 60 to 70 per cent in foot traffic within the first weeks. Lendlease’s largest integrated development in Asia, The Exchange TRX in Kuala Lumpur – projected for completion in 2025 – has also garnered a healthy lease rate of over 50 per cent of its retail space.