SINGAPORE: Alpha Investment Partners unit Macro Trends Fund and NTUC Income will acquire Grade A+ commercial development Capital Square from Germany's ERGO Insurance Group for S$889 million (RM2.14 billion), in what may be the largest commercial property deal in the island republic this year.

KUALA LUMPUR: Could Boustead Holdings Bhd be considering a real estate investment trust (REIT) soon?

With The Curve NX and the Royale Bintang Damansara hotel slated for completion in the burgeoning Mutiara Damansara commercial centre in Petaling Jaya later this year, Boustead's property portfolio in the prime area may be reaching a tipping point.

S P Setia Bhd (Mar 18, RM6.14)

KUALA LUMPUR: Local hotel room prices rose 17% to average US$118 (RM359.90) per night in 2010 from a year ago, thanks to a strong recovery in corporate travel coupled with a resurgence of international tourists, according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) by major international hotel accomodation provider Hotels.com.

SHAH ALAM: Setia City Mall, located in S P Setia Bhd's thriving 4,000 acre Setia Alam township that is set to open by mid-2012, has welcome its first few shoppers despite still being under construction after the shoppers' won a competition run exclusively on Facebook.

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Abd Karim Munisar has resigned as chairman of both Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Bhd (KHSB) and Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPSB), the groups announced to Bursa Malaysia separately on Friday, Mar 18. Abd Karim at the same time resigned as a non-independent and non-executive director of KHSB.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda) plans to submit a memorandum containing recommendation on the proposed amendments to the Housing Development Act (118) to authorities beyond the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in two months, said president Datuk Seri Michael Yam.

SINGAPORE: SANYO Asia Pte Ltd has completed the solar panel installation for Hotel Penaga in Penang, situated within the Unesco World Heritage Site of George Town. It is the first heritage restoration in Malaysia to receive the Green Mark Certification from Malaysia's Green Building Index.

KUALA LUMPUR: Joint patrols my members of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and auxiliary police at the Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations in Selangor will be conducted to ensure the safety of passengers.

Selangor police chief Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said about 300,000 people used the LRT service in the Ampang area in a month, for instance, and the police wanted them to feel safe.

BEIJING: China's property prices increased at their slowest pace in more than a year in February after a succession of policy moves by the government to cool the real estate market.