BlackRock Sells Shanghai Tower at 54% Discount for Conversion
BlackRock is selling its Trinity Place office tower in Shanghai to Rava Partners for RMB 634 million, a 54% loss from its 2017 purchase.
BlackRock is in advanced talks to sell Trinity Place, a Shanghai office tower, to Rava Partners. The deal values the 31,697 square metre Putuo district asset at approximately RMB 634 million ($95 million), a 54 percent discount to the RMB 1.37 billion BlackRock paid in April 2017. This follows BlackRock's default on a RMB 780 million syndicated loan in 2024, which led to the forfeiture of its two office buildings at Waterfront Place to Standard Chartered. Those towers were later sold by the bank to Beijing-based DCL Investment for about RMB 695 million in early 2025, a more than 42 percent discount to BlackRock's 2018 purchase price.
Trinity Place Transaction
Rava Partners, an affiliate of Hillhouse Investment, is negotiating to acquire Trinity Place. The prospective price of RMB 634 million represents a 30 percent reduction from the RMB 900 million BlackRock was asking in March 2025. It equates to roughly RMB 20,000 per square metre. The transaction remains under active due diligence.
The property's details are as follows:
| Metric | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total Area | 31,697 sq m (341,184 sq ft) |
| Office Space | 26,832 sq m (floors 5-27) |
| Retail Podium | 4,865 sq m (floors 1-3) |
| Completion Year | 2006 |
| Location | 828-868 Changshou Road, Putuo district |
Market Context
Shanghai's office market has deteriorated sharply. Average rents in core locations have fallen more than 30 percent since their 2018 peak. Peripheral assets like Trinity Place have been hit harder, with vacancy rates now averaging close to 30 percent. Rents in Trinity Place currently range from RMB 3 to RMB 5.5 per square metre per day, down from about RMB 6.9 per square metre per day in 2017. Occupancy is estimated at around 60 percent, a drop from 86 percent when BlackRock acquired the building. For comparison, Grade A offices in the core Jing An district now command about RMB 8.5 per square metre per day.
Conversion Strategy
Rava Partners plans to convert Trinity Place from commercial use into rental apartments. The building is well-situated for residential conversion, located opposite Wuning Road station on metro lines 13 and 14. Line 14, which opened in late 2021, provides a direct link to the Lujiazui financial district. Claire Tang, now a partner at Rava, oversaw a similar repositioning project in 2022 while at LaSalle Investment Management, acquiring a commercial asset in the Hongqiao area for conversion into multifamily units. The building was previously known as Shanghai Central Park after being acquired from Hong Kong Shanghai Alliance Holdings Ltd. Final execution of the Trinity Place deal hinges on completion of technical due diligence and local planning sign-offs required to convert commercial zoning into residential operations.
