Floor in 9 QRC Sold for HK$600M and More Hong Kong Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, grade A offices in Central continue to attract buyers despite the current downturn, with a floor in 9 Queen’s Road Central having sold for HK$43,662 per square foot. Meanwhile Shui On’s Vincent Lo has found his way back to Hong Kong for a purchase in Kwun Tong, and strata title units continue to sell in Admiralty’s Lippo Centre. Read on for the details on all these deals and more in the world’s most expensive real estate market.

Floor in 9 Queen’s Road Central Sold for HK$600M

A private company identified only as Supreme Control Limited, last month purchased the 26th floor of 9 Queen’s Road Central, a prime office building in Hong Kong’s traditional business district, for HK$600 million (US$76.6 million) or HK$43,662 per square foot according to newly released data from the Land Registry.

In April the same building just west of the iconic Bank of China tower, was the site of Hong Kong’s priciest office purchase ever, when the top floor sold for a record HK$60,000 per square foot in a HK$510 billion transaction. Read more>>

Shui On Group Buys Kwun Tong Building for HK$303.5M

Hong Kong-listed developer SOCAM Development Limited (0983) purchased a Ginza-style commercial building near the Ngau Tau Kok MTR station in Kowloon East for HK$303.5 million (US$38.8 million), the developer announced on Tuesday.

The company run by Shui On boss Vincent Lo purchased the 23-storey tower at 93 Wai Yip Street, which has an average floor plate of 27,803 square feet (2,583 square metre) by gross floor area, some five months after Savills had announced a tender for the asset, and just two years after the building was completed. Read more>>

Four Units of Lippo Centre Sell for HK$388M

A Taiwanese buyer has purchased four office units in the Lippo Centre in Admiralty totalling 7,775 square feet (993 square metres) by gross floor area, according to an account in the Hong Kong Economic Journal citing Land Registry data.  

The new owner paid HK$388 million (HK$49,904 per square foot) for the commercial asset, earning the former owner, The German Chamber of Commerce, a markup of over HK$348 million over the HK$39.85 million that it had paid to purchase the space in 1995. Read more>>

Wang On Said to Buy Kowloon Properties for HK$378M

A company known as Joint Hope Limited, said to be affiliated with Hong Kong-listed developer Wang On Properties (1243), has purchased 75 residential flats and shops in several buildings on Ming Fung Street in New Kowloon for HK$3,780 million (US$483 million).

While Wang On declined to reply to media inquiries, the properties on Ming Fung Street, which include the 53-year-old buildings Kin Fung Mansion and Fung Wong Mansion, could yield 76,800 square feet (7,135 square metres) of new construction area, should the buyer succeed in forcing a compulsory sale. Read more>>

Low Floor in Kwun Tong Yau Lee Centre Sold for HK$94.3M

A 14,980 square foot (1,392 square metre) floor in the Yau Lee Centre, an industrial building near the Kwun Tong MTR station was reportedly sold last month for HK$94.3 million (US$12 million), according to the Hong Kong Economic Journal.

The Kowloon East property was reportedly purchased by private company KDF Investments Limited, with the price working out to an average price of HK$6,295 per square foot. Read more>>

Sun Hung Kai Pockets HK$3B from Shek Mun Office Sales

Buyers snapped up about 95 percent of the 429 units offered at Sun Hung Kai’s W LUXE office building in the Shek Mun area of Sha Tin district during the first two weeks of sales, helping the Hong Kong-listed giant take in approximately HK$3 billion (US$383 million), the developer announced on Tuesday.

The top floor of the strata-title office remains available at price of HK$1.5 billion, translating into an average price of HK$22,000 per square foot, according to the developer.Read more>>

Tang Family Roll Out Renovation Plan for Industrial Building

Stan Tang, chairman of Stan Group and son of Tang Shing-Bor, one of the best-known property investors in Hong Kong, said on Friday that he planned to convert ten of the Group’s industrial buildings in Tuen Mun into hotels, office space or retail facilities.

The Group had applied to the government in May to redevelop the East Asia Industrial Building on Ho Tin Street as a hotel or as transitional housing for Hong Kongers awaiting access to social housing in the city. The redevelopment plans include adding two more floors to the building and extending the total gross floor area to 466,000 square feet, Tang said. Read more>>

Winland Group Sells Kwun Tong Unit at 13% Discount

Hong Kong property firm Winland Group is said to have sold a 687 square foot residential unit in Laguna City for HK$935 million (US$119 million), after marking down the price on the apartment, local newspaper Ming Pao reported on November 12.

The property agency-turned investment firm sold the unit in Kowloon East’s Kwun Tong area after cutting HK$145 million — around 13 percent — from the original price. Read more>>

Country Garden Said Selling First HK Project Below Cost

The first Hong Kong residential project by mainland developer Country Garden (2007), Altissimo in Ma On Shan, has kicked off sales by offering 110 homes for sale starting from HK$4.98 million (US$635,881) for a one-bedroom flat. The project commenced sales just over one year after Country Garden paid Wang On Properties HK$10,500 per square foot for a 60 percent stake in the project.

The project in the eastern New Territories, co-developed by Wang On Properties and China State Construction International Holdings Limited (3311) are for sale at average asking prices ranging from to HK$13,888 to HK$20,140 per square foot, with some analysts indicating that the mainland duo are selling the homes below development cost. Read more>>

HK Commercial, Industrial Deals Dropped 26% in October

Amid a slowing property market, the total volume of industrial, office, and retail property transactions in Hong Kong fell for a fourth consecutive month in October, according to a local agency report based on government statistics.

During last month the combined number of commercial and industrial property transactions slid 26 percent compared to September, totalling just 516 deals, according to Land Registry statistics compiled by Midland Realty. Read more>>

Lantau Reclamation Could Add New Commercial Hub

The Hong Kong government’s Lantau Tomorrow Vision reclamation plan could help overcome a shortage of office space in the city by adding 43 million square feet (4 million square metres) of commercial floor space, according to a recent report released by JLL.

Future office projects on the proposed extension to Lantau Island could provide enough space to amount to a new business center of around eighty percent the size of the Central business district and nearly half the size of the emerging Kowloon East commercial hub, according to JLL’s Commercial Land Supply report published in September. Read more>>

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