From left: Architect Philip Weeraratne, Asia Capital PLC Chairman Paul Ratnayeke,  Asia Capital PLC Group CEO/Director, Stefan Abeysinhe, Belluna Co. Ltd, Japan Managing Director Hiroshi Yasuno, Asia Capital PLC Director Toshiaki Tanaka and Asia Capital PLC Senior Manager- Projects Eraj Rajapakse. 
Pic by Nisal Baduge 

By Zahara Zuhair
The ground breaking ceremony of the ‘Luna Tower- Four Four Seven’ luxury apartment, a joint venture between Asia Capital PLC and Japanese investors Belluna Co. Ltd, took place recently.
The apartment complex will be built at a cost of US$ 51 million in Union place. The 200- apartment building is scheduled for completion by October 2019.

Asia Capital PLC Group CEO/Director Stefan Abeysinhe said that in venturing into real estate in the apartment complex segment, they are delighted to partner with Belluna Japan, as this joint project creates a new paradigm in local and foreign joint venture projects in Sri Lanka.

He said that prospective buyers could select from 2-3-4 bedrooms within a price range of Rs.35-140 million.
Talking to Mirror Business, he said that five of their projects in partnership with Belluna are off the ground and they will be laying the foundation stone for a 48-villa ultra-luxury resort in Galle this week.
“We are already building a hotel in Maldives. We bought a land in Marine Drive Colombo for a 300-room city hotel. Once the design is finalised the work will start. The fifth one is a mix development project for which we are trying to acquire the property in Vauxhall street,” he said.

He said that having Japanese expertise and the prime location are two unique factors of this project.
“This is one of the best locations for an apartment. Because we are on the boarder of Colombo-7 which is not allowed to do high rises. As we are in Colombo-2, it is close to Colombo- 7, 3 and 1. Colombo-2 is the common factor which boarders all three,” he said.

Belluna Managing Director Hiroshi Yasuno said that with operations in several continents, Belluna is delighted to invest in a country such as Sri Lanka, which is one of the leading nations in the region in terms of investment potential. 

As a foreign investor, he said that they hold a long-term view of Sri Lanka’s investment potential and foresee many more such high value projects in the years ahead.
Noting that they are very optimistic about the prospect in Sri Lanka, Ambassador of Japan Kenichi Suganuma said that timing and environment is very good to start a new in Sri Lanka, as the country is trying to attract more foreign investments including Japan.

“Last year in October, Sri Lankan Prime Minister visited Japan. We agreed that Sri Lanka and Japan should be comprehensive partners. And this year Sri Lankan President visited Japan on the occasion of the G7 Summit. He presented the case of Sri Lanka which received overwhelming support to Sri Lanka,” he said. 

It was noted that Asia Capital PLC, over the last five years has raised US $ 442 million of structured private equity and project management and a further US $ 222 million in equity capital transactions.
Belluna Co. Ltd headquartered in Japan, has invested in the real estate across the globe from Myanmar to the USA, including projects in Hollywood, Los Angeles.