JD Boss Richard Liu Revealed as Buyer in $283M Swire Hong Kong Home Sale

During December Richard Liu’s JD empire invested nearly a half billion dollars in a Hong Kong office building and listed its fourth company on the HKEX, now the mainland e-commerce titan’s founder has been revealed as the buyer in the city’s biggest home purchase in more than eight years.

Liu, who chairs China’s second largest e-commerce company, acquired a pair of adjoining houses at 6 Deep Water Bay last month for HK$2.2 billion ($283 million), according to market sources who spoke with Mingtiandi, with the deal ranking second only to Goldin Group founder Pan Sutong’s 2017 purchase of 75 Deep Water Bay Road for HK$2.5 billion among the city’s biggest housing purchases if the semi-detached dwellings are considered a single residence.

 

The native of China’s Jiangsu province purchased the pair of three-storey houses from developer Swire Properties, which had announced the deal on 22 December with details of the properties’ features, but without identifying a buyer.

“Perched on the lush hillside above Deep Water Bay, this exclusive development comprises two three-storey homes on a single lot, with saleable areas of approximately 9,600 square feet and 5,300 square feet. Each house is a masterpiece of design and craftsmanship, offering four to five ensuite bedrooms, expansive outdoor terraces, private swimming pools, landscaped gardens, and a wrap-around glass façade framing panoramic views of Hong Kong’s South Coast,” Swire said in the statement. 

In the Right Neighbourhood

With the combined property spanning approximately 14,900 square feet (1,384 square metres), Liu is paying the equivalent of HK$147,651 per square foot for his new Hong Kong abode, which also makes the purchase one of the city’s most expensive in recent years on a price per unit area basis.

The buildings, which occupy a single lot, are set to be completed within the first quarter of this year, with Swire having praised the project’s advantages in its press release last month. Leading from Hong Kong’s southside beaches up to some of the city’s priciest mansions, Deep Water Bay is home to some of its wealthiest residents, including Li Ka-shing and Sun Hung Kai Properties chair Raymond Kwok. 

“Located only a stone’s throw away from some of the city’s most exclusive private clubs, top international schools, and major business hubs, 6 Deep Water Bay commands uninterrupted views of Hong Kong’s South Coast as well as sweeping vistas of Deep Water Bay,” the company said. 

The two homes are part of a set of six semi-detached houses developed by Swire on the site, with a company representative declining to comment when asked about Liu’s purchase of the properties.

Goldin’s Pan Sutong, who was declared bankrupt by Hong Kong’s High Court in 2022 after Goldin Group’s collapse, holds the record not only for the most expensive housing buy in Hong Kong, but also at the global level, with Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman holding the second spot worldwide for his $300 million purchase of Château Louis XIV, in France in 2015, according to Mansion Global. 

Liu’s Deep Water Bay Road purchase places him third on the global posh pad index, followed by former Evergrande Group boss Xu Jiayin’s 2020 purchase of a mansion in London’s Knightsbridge area for $273 million.

The world’s fourth most expensive home purchase ever was also in Hong Kong, with Cheung Kei boss Chen Hongtian having paid $270 million to purchase 15 Gough Hill Road in 2016. That property was sold by receivers last year for just over $100 million. 

JD Loves Hong Kong

Since adding a secondary listing for JD.com on the Hong Kong exchange in 2020 (to supplement the company’s existing Nasdaq presence), Liu’s JD Group has steadily built its presence in the Asian financial hub while expanding globally.

In early December, Jingdong Property, JD Group’s real estate investment arm, agreed to purchase half of the CCB Tower in Hong Kong’s Central district for HK$3.5 billion, with the company said to be planning to use the space as its offshore headquarters. 

During that same week, Jingdong Industrials, JD’s logistics management unit raised HK$2.98 billion in the group’s fourth listing on the Hong Kong exchange, following earlier IPOs for JD Logistics and JD Health International.

Also during December, JD Property closed on a $236.6 million purchase of a set of four Singapore industrial properties through a team effort with Rava Partners-backed EZA HIll Property Management, and acquired a 909 square foot logistics campus outside of Leicester, England in the latest expansion of its European presence.