Silverstein to ramp up China investment, now looking to Israel

Silverstein Properties’ chairman Larry Silverstein is looking to expand his real estate investments in China and will also enter the Israeli market, Bloomberg News reported.

Silverstein is currently focused on building mixed-use projects in the Qianhai district of China’s southern city of Shenzhen, a region he entered in 2011 after over half a century of focusing solely on the New York City market. In Israel, the developer will be looking at hotels and residential properties, Bloomberg News said.

“My view is that these countries — U.S., China, Israel and Poland — are where our future is going to be, certainly in the next five years, or probably longer,” Silverstein told Bloomberg during an interview in Shanghai. “Because I’m so focused on the best in terms of quality, there’s no time for anything that’s secondary.”

Among other places in China, Silverstein is also looking at opportunities in Beijing and Shanghai, where it expects to build communities similar to the World Trade Center neighborhood, he said, declining to elaborate on the amount of the investment.

“There’s enough opportunity in these three cities,” said Silverstein, who recently secured a $660 million loan for a Lower Manhattan luxury tower.

The company joins other major New York players such as Tishman Speyer in venturing into China. The “long-term dynamics” of China will create “enormous opportunities” in the country’s real estate market, Tishman’s co-CEO Rob Speyer told Bloomberg News. [Bloomberg News]  – Hiten Samtani