British property developer Chelsfield is said to be buying the ground floor of The Galleria, a shopping centre in Hong Kong’s Central commercial hub, from French luxury brand Hermès for HK$900 million ($115 million), according to a local media report.
The former flagship Hermes store in The Galleria
The ground floor of The Galleria, at 9 Queen’s Road Central, comprises four retail shop units and a basement, with a combined floor area of 7,100 square feet (660 square metres). Through the deal, which has not been confirmed, Hermès would make a profit of HK$710 million by selling its former flagship space, after buying up the component units in succession since 2000 for a total of HK$190 million.
Hermès Said To Offload Galleria Floor After Flagship Move
Hermès reportedly put the floor on the market in 2016 after announcing it was relocating its flagship store from The Galleria to Prince’s Building in Central. The new flagship venue in the building developed by Hongkong Land is a five-minute walk from The Galleria. It was believed that Hermès — which did not own properties globally except in Paris and Hong Kong — intended to capitalise on the city’s surging retail property values through the sale.
Led by Nick Loup, Chelsfield Asia is reportedly paying HK$900 million for the former Hermès space
For Chelsfield, the deal would mark the London-based property group’s second acquisition of a commercial property in Hong Kong within a month. In December, the company partnered with Hong Kong real estate investment firm Pamfleet to buy a shopping centre in the city’s North Point area for HK$2 billion ($256 million) from Li Ka-shing’s Fortune REIT.
Chelsfield expanded its business to Asia in 2016, when it took over the real estate division of the Dymon Asia Group. The Asia arm of the UK firm is now operated by Dymon’s former management team, led by former Grosvenor executive, Nick Loup, who joined Chelsfield in 2015 as part of the takeover.
Note: This story updates an earlier version to clarify that the reported sale of the floor in The Galleria has not been confirmed. Mingtiandi regrets the oversight.
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