Mingtiandi

Asia real estate and outbound investment news

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Sign Up / Login Logout

Lost your password?
Register
Forgotten Password
Cancel

Register For This Site

A password will be e-mailed to you.

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
      • Asia Proptech 2021: COVID-19 Accelerates a Trend
      • Panel Talk: Tech Adoption in Logistics Real Estate
    • Promote Your Brand with the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

Phoenix Said Seeking Buyer for Wan Chai Commercial Project at HK$330M

2020/05/12 by James Hatton Leave a Comment

CBRE is marketing the redevelopment project on Johnston Road in Wan Chai

Phoenix Property Investors is seeking a buyer for a commercial redevelopment project in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district at an asking price of HK$330 million ($43 million), according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Mingtiandi.

The Hong Kong private equity shop headed by financiers Benjamin Lee and Samuel Chu has put the boutique-sized project at 189 Johnston Road on the market just over one year after completing its acquisition of the 1974-vintage property that occupies the site.

Yardi Facility Manager

Located 250 metres from Wan Chai MTR station, the 1,500 square foot (139 square metre) site can yield up to 22,000 square feet of gross floor area, and Mingtiandi has come to understand that that the disposal of the property is not related to Hong Kong’s COVID-19 driven property market woes.

Making Way for a New Tower

Based on the development’s potential GFA, the site could fetch HK$15,000 per square foot if sold at the HK$330 million asking price.

The plot can be developed as either a commercial property of up to 25 storeys in height, a 50-room hotel, or a co-living centre, according to CBRE, which has been appointed as sole marketing agent for the project.

“With the COVID-19 situation under control in Hong Kong and 90 percent of people back at work, this redevelopment opportunity in a core Wan Chai location popular with investors will appeal to small and medium-sized developers as well as co-living operators,” said Reeves Yan, CBRE’s head of capital markets in Hong Kong.

Samuel WT Chu and Benjamin KY Lee

Benjamin Lee (L) and Samuel Chu of Phoenix are said to be seeking a buyer for the Wan Chai site

Noting that strata-title sales of office properties near the Johnston Road project can achieve between HK$25,000 and HK$28,000 per square foot, CBRE’s Yan said that 189 Johnston Road represents a rare opportunity to buy a redevelopment project in an area where new land supply is scarce.

Phoenix Property Investors declined to comment on the proposed sale.

A Short Time on Johnston Road

The real estate investment firm had acquired a majority of the building during 2018 when it bought up ten residential units and a shop in the property just east of Fleming Road for a reported HK$160 million.

By March of last year Phoenix had acquired nearly 94 percent of the space in the building before applying for a compulsory sale to acquire the sole remaining unit at a value of HK$150 million for the whole property. Official records show that compulsory sale application was later withdrawn, with the fund manager said to have completed its acquisition of the remaining unit around April 2019.

Phoenix is said to be continuing to monitor opportunities in the market in the normal course of its fund management process.

Wan Chai Warms Up

Just two stops east of Central – Hong Kong’s most expensive office market – developers have been mining Wan Chai for development opportunities, buying up old commercial buildings which can be demolished to make way for new offices and hotels.

Blue chip Hong Kong developer Henderson Land’s upcoming 65,083 square foot office project at 206-212 Johnston Road, which is due to complete later this year, is just 100 metres west of the Phoenix site, while Sun Hung Kai Properties is developing a 130,000 square foot office tower 500 metres east at 222 to 228 Wan Chai Road.

Smaller property investors are also getting in on the act, with a commercial redevelopment site at 72-76 Queen’s Road East in Wan Chai selling for HK$253 million just over two weeks ago, according to a local media account. Based on its maximum gross floor area of 30,000 square feet, that Wan Chai project changed hands at HK$8,433 per square foot.

That media account had cited market sources indicating that the property, which occupies a 2,014 square foot site, had been acquired by investor Francis Law, although Mingtiandi sources now indicate that the Toyo Mall tycoon was not the buyer.

Despite a slow first quarter, CBRE’s Yan said that leasing enquiries in Wan Chai have picked up in April and May, with some tenants in Central aiming to save money by relocating to the area which, together with Causeway Bay, constitutes the eastern fringe of the island’s core office district,

Grade A office rents in the Wan Chai and Causeway Bay submarket fell by 4.5 percent during the first three months of 2020 compared with the previous quarter, with rental values for premium properties going for an average of HK$115 per square foot per month, according to CBRE.

MTD Proptech Report

Exiting Investments

Phoenix is seeking a buyer for the project as the private equity shop settles into divestment mode, including have sold off a pair of properties earlier this year.

In February, the property fund manager disposed of a row of shophouses in Singapore’s Chinatown for S$54 million ($38 million) to Aberdeen Standard Investments. That disposal earned Phoenix and its investors a mark-up of more than 20 percent over the S$42.8 million the firm paid to purchase the heritage properties from Japanese shipping company K-Line in late 2014.

A month before that Singapore deal, the firm had sold an apartment building in Tokyo for JPY 20 billion ($190 million), just 30 months after buying the Shinagawa area property.

Phoenix reached a final close of $1.15 billion on its latest opportunistic real estate fund, Phoenix Asia Real Estate Investment VI, in November last year.

Related Stories

  • Causeway Bay Commercial Site Put on the Market for HK$1B in Hong KongCauseway Bay Commercial Site Put on the Market for HK$1B in Hong Kong
  • Kailong to Convert Eight HK Properties into Chain of Boutique OfficesKailong to Convert Eight HK Properties into Chain of Boutique Offices
  • Phoenix Property Investors Said Buying Queen’s Road Office Space For HK$442MPhoenix Property Investors Said Buying Queen’s Road Office Space For HK$442M
  • Manulife Biggest Investor in HK$9.8B Buy of Swire’s Cityplaza One in Hong KongManulife Biggest Investor in HK$9.8B Buy of Swire’s Cityplaza One in Hong Kong

Share this now

  • LinkedIn
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Filed Under: Finance Tagged With: CBRE Group, cm-hk, daily-sp, Featured, highlight, Hong Kong, Johnston Road, Phoenix Property Investors, Wan Chai

MTD Proptech Report Download

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Yardi Lease Manager

Get Mingtiandi Delivered

Proptech Registration Column

Latest Stories

Sherman Kwek CDL

Singapore’s CDL Warns of Loss After China Developer Investment Swells to $1.4B

Alibaba Unit Leases Most of ARA, Chelsfield SG Project and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Andrew-Slevin-John-Foord (4)

Insurtech to Help Address Underinsurance Across Asian Real Estate Assets in 2021 Sponsored Feature

Chief Investment Officer for Asia, Hines

Hines Hires New Asia Investment Chief as Fund Management Business Grows

Sponsored Features

Andrew-Slevin-John-Foord (4)

Insurtech to Help Address Underinsurance Across Asian Real Estate Assets in 2021 Sponsored Feature

CK Lau

Asia Pacific Logistics Sector: Increasingly Varied Sector Requires Multiple Approaches Sponsored Feature

COVID-19 Uncertainty Creates New Priorities for Real Estate Investors Sponsored Feature

Urban planning

Urban Placemaking with Big Data and Little People Sponsored Feature

More Sponsored Features>>

MTD-QR-Code-320

Top Stories

Eagle Hospitality Trust Hotels Declare Bankruptcy as Singapore REIT CollapsesEagle Hospitality Trust Hotels Declare Bankruptcy as Singapore REIT Collapses

Hines Hires New Asia Investment Chief as Fund Management Business GrowsHines Hires New Asia Investment Chief as Fund Management Business Grows

Blackstone Closes on $1.1B China Logistics Deal and More Asia Real…Blackstone Closes on $1.1B China Logistics Deal and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Tech Adoption in Asian Real Estate: Download the ReportTech Adoption in Asian Real Estate: Download the Report


Connect with Mingtiandi

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Real Estate News

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
      • Asia Proptech 2021: COVID-19 Accelerates a Trend
      • Panel Talk: Tech Adoption in Logistics Real Estate
    • Promote Your Brand with the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum 2021
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

More Mingtiandi

  • About Mingtiandi
  • Contact Mingtiandi
  • Newsletter Subscription
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Advertise
  • Join the Mingtiandi Team

We use cookies in accordance with our Privacy policy to provide the best user experience on Mingtiandi and to safeguard user data. By continuing to browse you consent to the policy. AcceptRefuse