Hugo Lam Puts Causeway Bay Tower on the Market and More Hong Kong Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, property flipping aficionado Hugo Lam has decided that 2018 is prime time to start marketing a ginza-style building in Causeway Bay for HK$1.3 billion, less than a year after purchasing it for HK$965 million. And the city’s Urban Renewal Authority is paying a record unit price for a redevelopment site in northwestern Hong Kong Island, as the Hong Kong Council of Social Service schemes up ways to make the city’s social housing more livable. All these stories and more await you, if you just keep reading.

Hugo Lam Puts Causeway Bay Tower on Market for HK$1.3B

Hugo Lam Chi-fung is putting a ginza-style commercial building at 487-489 Lockhart Road in Causeway Bay on the market for HK$1.3 billion, according to Savills, the sole sales agent for the property. Lam purchased the 26-storey L-Hart building last July for HK$965 million from Henry Group.

The 32,728 square foot property sits across from the Causeway Bay MTR station. En bloc properties in the area are mostly owned by big corporations with few on sale, said Savills. The latest en bloc transaction in Causeway Bay was the sale of the Zing! retail tower at Yiu Wa Street. Read more>>

URA Pays Record HK$24,000 PSF for Buildings in Sai Ying Pun

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) ­has offered a record HK$24,000 per square foot to buy office properties for a redevelopment project in Sai Ying Pun.

The acquisition offer, announced on Monday, came as private home prices in the world’s least affordable property market continued to rise for two straight years as of the end of March. Read more>>

Hong Kongers to Be Blessed with Colourful Social Housing

Four government sites were under consideration for more social housing projects made of stackable, prefabricated units, it was revealed on Tuesday, after designs for the first batch were unveiled.

The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS), an umbrella group of welfare organisations, said it was in talks with the government about whether similar projects to the one already planned in Sham Shui Po could be built in three or four different places. Read more>>

Sales Rise at Swire Malls in Q1 as Tourists Make a Comeback

Swire Properties said retail sales at the shopping malls under its management gained in the first three months of the year, as increasing tourist arrivals spilled over to higher shopping bills.

First-quarter retail sales jumped by 25.9 percent at The Mall at Pacific Place in Admiralty, rising 11.7 percent at the Citygate Outlets in Tung Chung, the company said in a press release. At Taikoo Shing’s Cityplaza shopping centre, which caters more to local residents instead of tourists, sales grew 7.7 percent, Swire said. All three malls were fully occupied by retail tenants during the period. Read more>>

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