Gaw Could Turn Retail Centres into NGO Hubs and More Hong Kong Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, Goodwin Gaw’s Gaw Capital has announced plans to offer discounted rent for NGOs in a set of shopping centres acquired from Link REIT earlier this year, in a move that could counter public criticism of its takeover of the neighbourhood retail plazas. Also in the headlines, the chairwoman of hair salon chain Modern Beauty may find more permanent profits in commercial space than in waves or highlights as she puts a pair of floors in Tsim Sha Tsui’s BCC Building on the market for HK$280 million — just three months after she snapped up a floor in the World Trust Tower in Central for HK$58 million. All these stories and more await you, if you just keep reading.

Gaw Capital Invites NGOs to Former Link REIT Centres

A Hong Kong property firm is planning to attract NGO tenants with low rent to revive some of the 17 shopping centres bought from the Link Reit, the company said on Wednesday, rejecting suspicions it was a speculator.

Gaw Capital Partners led a consortium including US investment bank Goldman Sachs and China Great Wall Asset Management in the purchase of the malls for HK$23 billion (US$2.9 billion) in November, the biggest ever retail property transaction in the city. Read more>>

Beauty Boss Puts Pair of TST Floors on Sale for HK$280M

Beauty salon Modern Beauty’s chairwoman Joyce Tsang is putting up a pair of floors in BCC Building in Tsim Sha Tsui for HK$280 million. The properties, which have a combined area of 13,946 square feet, were bought by Tsang in 2012 for HK$101 million.

The Tsim Sha Tsui move comes just three months after Tsang purchased an office floor in the World Trust Tower at 50 Stanley Street in Central. The beauty salon chairwoman paid HK$58 million, or HK$20,216 per square foot for the 2,869 square foot asset. Read more>>

Wan Chai Office Unit Put on Market For HK$116M

A vacant unit in the Bank of East Asia Harbour View Centre at 56 Gloucester Road in Wan Chai has been put on the market for an asking price of HK$116 million, or HK$28,000 per square foot for the 4,160 square foot property.

The proposed sale comes after a 2,490 square foot unit in a middle level of the same building was leased for HK$124,500 per square foot at the beginning of the year. The rent for that mid-level unit translates to HK$50 per square foot per month, and the deal marked a 15 percent increase from the rent level of last year, according to Midland Realty. Read more>>

Victor Li Says Politics Hinder Public-Private Development 

Hong Kong tycoon Victor Li Tzar-kuoi sees political considerations as a major barrier to a government plan for joint public and private development of agricultural land for housing, casting doubt on whether the model could help boost home affordability in the city.

The comments by the head of Cheung Kong Infrastructure, part of the CK Hutchison conglomerate founded by his father and the city’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, are the first expression of reservations by a major property investor on the government’s proposals to help developers build homes on the developers’ agricultural land holdings. Read more>>

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