Sheung Wan Building Sells for HK$98M and More Hong Kong Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, a three-metre-wide building in Sheung Wan was sold for HK$98 million — a multiple of 41 times what the seller paid to acquire the property west of Central when Saturday Night Fever was still a hit. Also in the headlines, Hong Kong investor Jeffrey Liu Wai-lun sold an industrial unit in Kowloon East to a developer that may be aiming for a compulsory sale of the aging building on Wai Yip Street.

In Cheung Sha Wan, bids in a tender for a residential redevelopment project are due tomorrow, with analysts expecting strong demand for the URA property.  Also, a former chief accountant at Southeast Asia Properties was sentenced to jail over a HK$2 million ($258,000) fraud conviction.

Sheung Wan Building Sells for HK$98M

Despite footprints that might only accommodate a newsstand in many cities, Hong Kong’s pencil building projects remain popular with investors, even during a virus-driven market slowdown.

A commercial building which occupies a site of less than 1,000 square feet (92 square metres) in Sheung Wan, was purchased by private firm Holy Choice Limited which is controlled by directors Chan Chun-shing, Chan Ho-bun and Mak Kam-ha, for HK$98 million ($12.64 million), according to a local news report last week.

The seller had originally acquired the building at 110 Jervois Street for HK$2.3 million ($296,000) in 1978, indicating a HK$95.7 million capital gain over the 42 year period, according to Land Registry records. Read More>>

Unnamed Developer Pays 50% Above Market for Kwun Tong Industrial Unit

An investment consortium has paid a 50 percent premium to purchase the third floor of the Siu Fu Factory building in Kowloon East in what is said to be an initiative to redevelop the aging property at 201 Wai Yip Street.

Hong Kong investor Jeffrey Liu Wai-lun sold the 9,300 square foot (864 square metre) floor in the Kwun Tong building for HK$85 million ($10.96 million), according to a local media report today. The son of late Chong Hing Bank founder Dr Liu Lit-chung sold the asset for the equivalent of HK$9,139 per square foot, or around 50 percent above market values in the area, with Liu indicating to the Sing Tao Daily News that the buyer intends to redevelop the industrial building.

Dr Liu Lit-chung, who passed away in July 2019, had acquired the unit in 1981 for HK$3.36 million ($433,000), with the family realising a capital gain of HK$81.64 million after holding the property for 39 years.

A Hong Kong-registered firm, Prosper Significance (HK) Ltd had purchased the fourth, fifth and ground floors of the seven storey building at a total price of HK$310 million ($39.99 million) in September 2019, according to a report by the Hong Kong Economic Times. Read More>>

Cheung Sha Wan URA Project Set for Tuesday Tender

Developers are set to submit bids on Tuesday for the rights to redevelop a cluster of residential buildings in Cheung Sha Wan, according to an announcement by the city’s Urban Renewal Authority.

The residential project at the intersection of Tonkin Street and Fuk Wing Street in the Kowloon neighbourhood covers a 13,649 square foot site and is designated for redevelopment into as many as 175 new homes.

The project’s permissible gross floor area of 104,000 square feet includes 11,517 square feet of retail on the ground floor. Surveyors estimate that once completed, the development would likely be valued at HK$2.3 billion, with homes in the project expected to sell for around HK$22,000 per square foot.

Located one-minute away from the Cheung Sha Wan station, the redevelopment project’s access to transportation is expected to attract big bidders, according to industry analysts. Read More>>

Former Chief Accountant of SE Asia Properties Jailed Over HK$2M Fraud

Lau Ka-chung, a former financial controller at Southeast Asia Properties (SAP), was sentenced to three years and seven months in jail last week, after being convicted of fraud and corruption, according to a press release by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Lau was found guilty of defrauding SAP of over HK$2 million by concealing his ownership of an outsourced services firm which he engaged as a supplier to the company, and using the arrangement to secure an illegitimate HK$590,000 rebate.

The judge remarked that the case has tarnished Hong Kong’s reputation as a financial centre, while also ordering Lau to return the rebate to SAP. Read More>>

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