SJM Buys Floor of China Merchants Tower and More Hong Kong Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, there are signs of life in Hong Kong’s market for strata title office space as an affiliate of the owner of Sheung Wan’s Shun Tak Centre has bought up a whole floor in one of the complex’s twin towers. Despite uncertainty in the investment market, tenants continue to sign high-end lease deals with a floor in the Bank of China Tower renting for an average of HK$120 per square foot per month, and a unit in Admiralty going for HK$130 per square foot per month. Read on for all these stories and more in the world’s most expensive real estate market.

SJM Holdings Buys Floor of China Merchants Tower for HK$680M

Hong Kong-listed Macau casino operator SJM Holdings (880) bought the entire 18th floor of the China Merchants Tower in Sheung Wan’s Shun Tak Centre for HK$680 million (US$86.8 million). The company managed by Angela Leong paid an average of HK$28,100 per square foot for the 24,200 square foot (2,248 square metre) space the company announced last Friday.

The deal was reported as a connected transaction as SJM Holdings is 54.1 percent controlled by STDM, which also owns more than 30 percent of the seller, Shun Tak Center Limited. Read more>>

Whole Floor of Bank of China Tower Leases for HK$120 Per Square Foot

A whole floor of the Bank of China Tower in Central was reportedly leased for HK$1.47 million (US$187,650) per month during last week, leading a set of pricey rental transactions in Hong Kong. The lease for the 12,221 square foot space in the prime tower works out to an average of over HK$120 per square foot per month.

A unit in the Far East Financial Centre in Admiralty also leased for HK$130 per square foot per month, while an upper floor in Sun Hung Kai’s ICC in Kowloon West leased for an average of HK$100 per square foot. Read more>>

CSCEC Grabs 80% of Ho Man Tin Building

China State Construction International Holdings Limited (3311) on Monday was reported to have paid HK$3.8 million (US$485,096) to purchase additional space in a building on Valley Road near the Ho Man Tin MTR station in Kowloon, after it had acquired substantial holdings in the property during September.

The acquisition gives the Hong Kong-listed unit of the state-owned mainland builder ownership of more than 80 percent of the 54 year-old building, which makes it eligible to apply for a compulsory sale of the property, which could potentially be developed into up to 35,000 square feet of new space. Read more>>

Lower Floor Unit of Shun Tak Centre Bought at Bargain Price

A unit in the China Merchants Tower of Shun Tak Centre changed hands recently for HK$38 million (US$4.85 million) at a unit price of HK$32,815 per square foot.

The 1,158 square foot property, said to be a lower floor unit in the Sheung Wan commercial building, traded at a rate below other recent transactions in the building. Read more>>

HKU Buys Novum West Retail Centre From Henderson for HK$504M

The University of Hong Kong laid out HK$504 million (US$64.3 million) to acquire the retail component of Henderson Land’s Novum West project in Sai Ying Pun for educational and research usage, according to a spokesman for the university.

The purchase of the approximately 21,000 square foot (1,950 square metre) property located less than one kilometre from the HKU campus was made at an estimated average price of HK$24,000 per square foot, according to Ming Pao. Read more>>

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