Office Floor in Hong Kong’s Admiralty District Sells for 17-Year Low

An office floor in Hong Kong’s Admiralty district has sold for a price not seen since the global financial crisis of 2008, as commercial property values in the Asian business hub continue to plummet.

Financially troubled property investor Gale Well Group has agreed to sell the 39th floor of the Far East Finance Centre for HK$194.4 million ($25 million), according to Land Registry records, with that rate for the 10,801 square foot (1,003 square metre) asset equivalent to approximately HK$18,000 per square foot.

“The last sale recorded below this price was registered in Apr 2008, with a gross unit rate of $14,259, except for an extremely low transaction with a gross unit rate of $1,362 noted in December 2017,” said Bobby Mak, real estate valuer at Hong Kong-based CHFT Advisory and Appraisal.

The sale by Gale Well, which has disposed of a number of properties in recent months, came as average grade A office rents in Hong Kong fell 2.5 percent in the first quarter of the year, bringing leasing rates down 42.2 percent from their 2019 peak, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Mainland Investor Bets on Hong Kong

Gale Well sold the upper zone floor in the 48-storey tower to a joint venture fund affiliated with Beijing-based credit rating conglomerate China Chengxin Group (CCX Group).

Vastness Investment Company Limited, which is registered as the new owner of the asset, lists Chengxin Group founder Mao Zhenhua and China Chengxin International chairman Yan Yan listed as its directors, according to public records.

The buyer is a joint venture 50 percent owned by Cayman Islands-incorporated CCX International Holding and 49 percent held by local firm Honour Goal Investment Limited, according to company registration records. Eagle Wing Corporate Services Limited, a Hong Kong-based venture capital, immigration and real estate consulting firm, holds a 1 percent stake in the JV.

Located just east of Central district at 16 Harcourt Road, Far East Finance Centre and its neighbours, Bank of America Tower and Lippo Centre are among the highest value office buildings with strata title ownership in Hong Kong, with prices for units in the buildings providing a barometer of the city’s property market.

Savills had been marketing the office floor for HK$250 million since late February, while sources said Century 21 ended up brokering the strata sale at a more than 22 percent discount to the asking price.

The property currently generates rental income of HK$647,236 per month, amounting to a yield of about 4 percent, with an earliest lease expiry date of this November, sources said.

Gale Well Group had acquired the property in 2006 for HK$115 million, according to local media accounts.

Serial Seller

With most of Hong Kong’s small and mid-sized property investors now believed to be facing financial stress, Gale Well founder Jacinto Tong Man-Leung said last month he is seeking to improve the company’s balance sheet by offloading assets.

Including the Far East Finance Centre disposal, Gale Well has sold HK$494 million worth of properties in the past two months.

Last month, Gale Well sold a luxury apartment building at 68-70 Chung Hom Kok Road for HK$220 million in a deal brokered by Savills. In February, the firm parted with its long-serving headquarters in The Sun’s Group Centre in Wan Chai for HK$79.79 million.

The company also has at least four additional asset currently on the market said to be worth around HK$2.5 billion.

The company has engaged CBRE and Ricacorp to look for buyers for its 21-storey commercial building at 83 Austin Road in Kowloon, known as Austin Plaza, for HK$890 million, according to broker marketing materials.

In November, Gale Well began marketing a 98-room boutique hotel at 39 Morrison Hill Road in Causeway Bay worth around HK$630 million and the 39th floor in Tower 2 of the Lippo Centre office complex in Admiralty with a price tag of HK$277 million. In September, the company had put up for sale the 35th floor of the West Tower of the Shun Tak Centre commercial building in Sheung Wan, asking HK$663 million.

The company has yet to secure a buyer for this assets, sources said.