Henderson, Swire Redevelopment Plan Rejected and More Hong Kong Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, Hong Kong giants Henderson Land and Swire Properties have had a joint commercial development application in Quarry Bay turned down despite snapping up a set of shops on the site for HK$82 million.

Meanwhile, a 30 minute jaunt west to Central on the MTR, Henderson acquired another property in what appears to be part of a plan to assemble sites for a future residential development.

With the collapse in retail sales continuing to challenge the sector, Hong Kong developers Sino Group and Kerry Properties sold eight shop units in Tsim Sha Tsui, while overseas retailers are said to be zeroing in on discounted space as they expand into the Asian financial hub.

Henderson, Swire Quarry Bay Commercial Development Rejected 

Henderson Land and Swire Properties have had their application to redevelop 16-94 Pan Hoi Street and 983-987A King’s Road in Quarry Bay turned down, just one day after the pair of developers teamed up to acquire four retail units on the site for HK$82 million ($10.6 million).

The set of properties, located at 72, 74, 76 and 78 Pan Hoi Street, were purchased by Wealth First Limited on behalf of the developers on 16 April, according to Land Registry records, and the application to redevelop the site as a commercial building was rejected on 17 April, according an announcement by the Town Planning Board.

The developers had initially applied for permission to redevelop the site on 21 January, after a previous application and two appeals to redevelop 48-94 Pan Hoi Street in 2018 and 2019 were rejected, according to the Town Planning Board. Read More>>

Henderson Land Acquires Redevelopment Site in Central for HK$75M

A company controlled by Henderson Land chairman Martin Lee Ka-shing has purchased a property in Central for HK$75 million, according to Land Registry records. Sun Crystal Limited paid HK$11,700 per square foot for the 1,270 square foot site at 66-66A Peel Street, which is zoned for residential use and can yield up to 6,400 square feet of gross floor area. The undisclosed seller had purchased the building in 2010 for HK$59 million.

The acquisition comes after Henderson Land acquired a cluster of residential and retail units at 47A Elgin Street, just a two-minute walk away, in September last year for HK$165 million, or HK$32,400 per square foot, according to a local media report.  The developer is said to be aiming to develop a residential project in the area with a gross floor area of 100,000 square feet, according to a separate news account.  Read More>>

HK$141M Ap Lei Chau Project Heads for Public Tender

A residential site at Hong Kong’s Ap Lei Chau island will be sold by public tender, according to the Lands Department. The 12,150 square foot land parcel on Ap Lei Chau Praya Road can yield a maximum gross floor area of 88,282 square feet, with market analysts estimating that homes on the site will fetch around HK$11,000 to HK$12,000 per square foot, giving an overall project value, once completed, of between HK$115 million to HK$141 million.

The tender invitation for the plot will open on 24 April and close on 22 May. Read More>>

Sino Group, Kerry Properties Sell 8 Tsim Sha Tsui Shops

Sino Group and Kerry Properties sold eight retail units in their jointly developed South Seas Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui last month for a combined HK$30.52 million, according to a local news report last Friday. The eight units in the shopping mall, which is located nine minutes’ walk from the Tsim Sha Tsui East station, range in size from 209 square feet to 1,480 square feet in saleable area. The developers sold the ground floor units for HK$1.8 million to HK$12 million, while the upper ground floor shops were sold for HK$1.94 million to HK$8.88 million, with the disposals executed through the jointly held company Wu Wing International.

The most recent transaction in the building prior to this — of an upper ground floor unit with a saleable area of 1,994 square feet — took place in March 2017 at a price of HK$13.46 million or HK$6,750 per square foot, which is 11 percent more per square foot than what Sino and Kerry obtained for a similar unit last month. Read More>>

Overseas Retailers Take Advantage of Hong Kong Retail Retreat

As Hong Kong’s local shop operators continue to be battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, some overseas brands are said to be taking advantage of discounted properties to expand in the Asian financial hub. In the city’s largest shopping centre, Harbour City, a total of 20 new fashion and beauty retailers, as well as restaurants, will be opened at the mall this month or the next, according to a local report.

This international expansion comes after retail sales plunged 44 percent to HK$22.7 billion in February compared with the same month in 2019, the lowest monthly figure in two decades, according to the Census and Statistics Department. Read More>>

 

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