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
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • Join the Mingtiandi Asia Value-Add Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Multi-Family Investment Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Logistics Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Sustainable Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Data Centre Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Office Strategies Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum in November
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

Hong Kong’s Shop King Puts Wanchai Asset on Market for HK$450M

2020/08/05 by Diana Li Leave a Comment

168 hennessy road

The Woon Yin building occupies a busy stretch of Hennessy Road in Wanchai

Hong Kong’s ‘Shop King’ Tang Shing-bor has put a building in Wanchai up for sale at HK$450 million ($58 million), marking the fourth time this year that one of the city’s most prolific property investors has put assets on the block.

The 86-year-old real estate veteran has reportedly entered into negotiations to sell a 13-storey building at 168-170 Hennessy Road to an unnamed buyer, according to local media. While the negotiated asking price represents an 18 percent discount from the HK$550 million that Tang was asking for the property when he put it up for sale in 2018, market observers remain doubtful that the asset can attract buyers at the stated price, given poor market conditions.

Yardi Proptech Report

The potential sale of the Woon Yin building is the latest in a flurry of attempts this year by the man ranked 14th on Forbes’ Hong Kong rich list to find buyers for properties in his portfolio of shops, go-downs and aging commercial buildings, after having invested in a portfolio of hotels in recent years.

The Shop King’s Liquidation Sale

Tang – affectionately referred to as Uncle Bor in local media reports – purchased the mixed-use asset in Wanchai for HK$300 million in 2016. The 1,900 square foot (176 square metre) mixed commercial and residential building currently earns Tang a rental income of about HK$600,000 per month.

Tang-Shing-bor-1

Tang Shing-bor has been in selling mode this year

However, industry analysts noted that, given planning restrictions in the neighbourhood, and the plot ratio for the property, there is little capacity for a new owner to develop a larger building on the site, which is expected to limit interest from potential buyers.

In addition to marketing the property on Hong Kong Island, last month Tang was said to have put up for tender a 5,654 square foot site in Ki Lung Street close to the Prince Edward MTR station at an asking price of HK$450 million — a 25 percent discount from an earlier attempt to sell the property for HK$600 million.

In May the veteran investor had put on the market a portfolio of commercial and residential properties for a combined HK$1.5 billion and last month was reported to be in the final stages of negotiating an agreement to sell a 202,361 square foot asset at 17-19 Lok Yip Road in the New Territories for HK$820 million to a unit of state-owned mainland conglomerate China Resources.

Tang’s drive to liquidate assets has been linked to the rapid expansion of his hotel business. In the five years since it was founded, his hospitality-focused Living Group has developed five distinct hotel brands with around 3,300 rooms and 20 restaurant outlets between them.

Data Centre Forum

Like most hotels across Hong Kong these rooms now sit largely vacant due to the pandemic. In February 2020 hotel occupancy in the city fell to 29 percent. Although hotels in Hong Kong had clawed their way back to 44 percent occupancy in June, according to government data, a year ago, the number of occupants was roughly twice that.

With hotel owners hurting, and retail rents falling, Hong Kong’s Shop King earlier this year scrapped a plan to acquire a Mong Kok hotel, forfeiting a HK$32.8 million deposit in the process.

A Buyer’s Market

Tang’s latest deal comes at a turbulent time in Hong Kong’s property market, when both residential and commercial building values are bottoming. On the leasing side, retailers who once competed to secure prime spots in the world’s most expensive market are choosing to postpone leasing negotiations or jump ship altogether, as the disruption from COVID-19 crimps sales.

Sustainability Forum

As vacancies rise, rents have plunged. “We expect high street shops rents to drop 35 percent to 40 percent this year, while prime shopping centre rents will drop 25 percent to 30 percent,” noted JLL’s Hong Kong head of retail Oliver Tong. “Leasing demand will remain weak in the second half of this year due to the ongoing pandemic and economic uncertainties.”

In this environment, the odds seem stacked against Uncle Bor selling his Wanchai block at the asking price.

Outside of retail, JLL expects prices for mass market residential properties to average a drop 5 percent to 10 percent by year’s end, despite a recent rebound in the housing market, as the pandemic, travel restrictions and other barriers limit investor activity.

“Although there is recovery in the residential market, the uncertainties in the property market remain.” said Joseph Tsang, chairman and head of capital markets at JLL. “The city is now facing the third wave of COVID-19 infection and decreasing capital inflow from mainland China to Hong Kong’s real estate market.”

Related Stories

  • Investors Leong and Tang Put HK$12.5B in Hong Kong Properties Up for SaleInvestors Leong and Tang Put HK$12.5B in Hong Kong Properties Up for Sale
  • SilkRoad Buys Hong Kong Cold Chain Asset for $41MSilkRoad Buys Hong Kong Cold Chain Asset for $41M
  • Goodman Buys Half of Kowloon East Industrial Building for HK$570MGoodman Buys Half of Kowloon East Industrial Building for HK$570M
  • 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: cm-hk, daily-sp, highlight, Hong Kong, Tang Shing-bor, Wanchai

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.

Get Mingtiandi Delivered

MTD Proptech Report

MTD TV

Data Centre Operators Tackle APAC Expansion Challenges in MTD TV Panel

Investors Boost APAC Logistics Deals Amid E-Commerce Boom

More MTD TV Videos

Latest Stories

Darren Searle Logos

KKR, Abu Dhabi Fund Back $154M Logos Project in Brisbane

crown sydney

Blackstone Ties $6B Crown Offer to Licences and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Raymond-Chow-hongkong-land

Hongkong Land Leases Exchange Square Floors to S&P Despite Central Market Slide

Sponsored Features

Tony Horrell

Colliers’ Global Investor Sentiment Report Anticipates Up to 50% Surge in Investment in 2021 Sponsored Feature

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

More Sponsored Features>>

MTD-QR-Code-320

Top Stories

Data Centre Startup Princeton Digital Lands $230M in Financing as China…Data Centre Startup Princeton Digital Lands $230M in Financing as China Platform Grows

Sun Hung Kai & Co Launches $300M Debt Vehicle to Grow Fund…Sun Hung Kai & Co Launches $300M Debt Vehicle to Grow Fund Management Business

Singapore’s Frasers Hospitality Trust Names Eu Chin Fen as CEOSingapore’s Frasers Hospitality Trust Names Eu Chin Fen as CEO


Connect with Mingtiandi

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Real Estate News

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • Join the Mingtiandi Asia Value-Add Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Multi-Family Investment Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Logistics Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Sustainable Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Data Centre Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Office Strategies Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum in November
    • 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