Han’s Holding weighs exit from $3bn Sydney twin towers project

An artist’s impression of the planned 80-storey twin towers in Sydney’s CBD.

Private Chinese developer Han’s Holdings Group, which has proposed a dramatic 80-storey twin-tower scheme in the mid-town precinct of the Sydney CBD, is weighing an exit from the project that will have an end value of about $3bn.

Local and international developers have been circling the site, known as 338 Pitt St, assembled by Han’s Holdings over the past seven years via a ­series of building purchases that left it controlling a chunk of an entire city block.

The towers will be connected by a sky bridge at levels 36 and 38, further marking out the towers on the city skyline, as they will already be among the city’s tallest.

The design competition for 338 Pitt St saw Fjmt, Polly Harbison, Trias and Aileen Sage selected to advise on the towers, which will top James Packer’s Crown Resorts One Barangaroo by five stories and be on par with a skyscraper planned by Mirvac and Coombes in George St.

The site is one of the city’s last major undeveloped areas. The striking towers would include 592 opulent luxury apartments, a 158-room five-star hotel, and 5000sq m of space for top retailers.

Han’s Holdings is one of the largest private Chinese developers and sports a deep track record across global capitals. It could also take on a partner to complete the project.

It is being advised by JLL’s Luke Billiau and Simon Storry, but they declined to comment.

Han’s Holdings has the capacity to develop on its own and, with a skilled local partner, could time the project to capitalise on the emerging apartment boom as it will have vacant possession of the office buildings on site in 2024.

Han’s Holdings has already added substantial value and, if the proposal went ahead, it would be among the largest realised in Sydney.

Both local and international groups have already approached Han’s Holdings. Bidding could ­approach $1bn as developers stock up for the next cycle, so the group could exit with a substantial profit.

The moves are understood to be unrelated to the broader flight of Chinese capital from the local development scene, with Han’s Holdings developing international projects unfettered by the Chinese government’s moves to clamp down on its domestic real estate sector.

Founded in 1996, Han’s Holdings is headquartered in Nanshan District in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, and has become a major commercial and residential property development group.

As a controlling shareholder of Han’s Laser, a listed company, it is specialised in property development across urban renewal, real estate ­development, overseas real estate, hotel operations, commercial management and property management.

The redevelopment of 338 Pitt St, Sydney would dramatically transform the site on the corner of Pitt St and Liverpool St.

The property sits near Museum Station and Hyde Park, and is also close to Town Hall Station in a rapidly gentrifying area. It comprises about a third of the city block and spans about 5900sq m.

All the existing buildings will be demolished and the 258m twin towers would be built above a podium and internal courtyard.

The Han’s Holdings family office also has locations in Hong Kong, New York and Lucerne. It manages assets worth more than $US6bn ($8.1bn) globally.

The company has undertaken large-scale urban renewal, office towers, retail centres, high-end hotels and residential projects.

Its projects span Switzerland, New York, Los Angeles, San Jose, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Taiyuan, Nanjing, Xiamen and Dongguan with total development areas of more than 5 million square metres.