CBRE Southern China MD Alvin Lau Jumps to Savills

International property consultancy Savills continues to add to its mainland China team after the London-based firm recently introduced former CBRE executive Alvin Lau as Managing Director of its Guangzhou office and Deputy Managing Director of its southern China division.

Lau’s arrival at Savills last month came shortly after the property services firm announced the hiring of the executive’s former CBRE co-workers, Sam Lai and Steven Liu to head the Guangzhou office leasing and commercial sales departments respectively.

In addition to Lai and Liu, a number of other members of CBRE’s Guangzhou commercial real estate team are said to have followed Lau’s lead in migrating to Savills. CBRE’s Guangzhou exodus comes just two months after Savills officially opened a 20 person Wuhan office headed by former CBRE central China chief, Thomas Ng.

20-Year Veteran Now Carries a Savills Namecard

“We are delighted to welcome Alvin Lau to Savills,” Savills APAC executive chairman Robert McKellar said in an official statement. “Alvin is a proven real estate leader who bring strong leadership skills and a keen understanding of Chinese real estate opportunities. His extensive industry experience will be an invaluable asset to our team as we continue to accelerate our growth strategy in Southern China.”

Lau came on board with Savills after 14 years with CBRE and more than two decades in the industry. The University of Hong Kong graduate also has served with Li Ka-shing’s Cheung Kong Group (now CK Asset Holdings) and developer New World China Land, according to a statement by Savills.

On the consultancy’s expanded southern China organisation chart, Lau appears to be perched just below southern China Managing Director Woody Lam, who is also head of the company’s Shenzhen office.

Savills Expands to Keep Pace with Guangzhou Commercial Market

The expansion of Savills’s southern China team also means that the Guangzhou office’s commercial department is now divided into separate leasing and sales divisions for the first time, with Steven Liu taking responsibility for commercial investment deals. Sam Lai, who formerly served nearly 13 years with CBRE, most recently as a senior director, will keep the same rank in his new role as head of Guangzhou commercial leasing.

“The expansion of our commercial department is a strategic milestone that is vital to our Guangzhou office’s next 10 years of development,” Savills’ Woody Lam commented in a statement. Lam added that, “Guangzhou is one of two dynamic, fast-growing, first-tier cities in the region, and is also an important strategic centre for Savills in the Greater Bay Area.”

According to Savills’ most recent research on the Guangzhou office market, vacancy rates in the city declined by 5.2 percentage points in 2017 to average 8.6 percent city-wide, with the size of the city’s grade A office market projected to rise 70 percent by 2021.