Mainland Tycoon’s Hong Kong Mansion Sold at $166M Markdown

A mainland tycoon who set a Hong Kong record purchasing the city’s most expensive home nine years ago has now set a new standard for the biggest residential markdown as that same house sold for HK$1.3 billion ($165.6 million) less than its landmark 2016 price.

A provisional sale and purchase agreement was signed on Tuesday for 15 Gough Hill Road, with an undisclosed buyer picking up the property for HK$790 million, according to a register of transaction posted to the development’s website.

Chen Hongtian, the boss of Shenzhen’s Cheung Kei Group, had paid HK$2.1 billion to acquire the luxury home on Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak in 2016, but can’t be said to have incurred this latest loss, as the mansion had been seized by receivers in March 2023 after the apparel tycoon defaulted on loans connected to the property.

The sale registered this week represents a 62 percent markdown from Chen’s purchase nine years ago, and marks the second sale of a residence seized from Chen and his wife in less than two months, after receivers had sold multiple properties connected to the tycoon and his business empire over the last two years.

Fixer-Upper

Since seizing 15 Gough Hill Road more than two years ago, receivers appointed by Bank of East Asia, which held loans backed by the home, had attempted at least six tenders of the property, with the final sale being negotiated at a price just short of the most recent attempt’s target of slightly over HK$800 million, market sources told Mingtiandi. 

The 6-bedroom, 5-bathroom property has a gross floor area of about 9,212 square feet, with the sale price translating to approximately HK$85,758 per square foot. 

Chen had gutted the property following his acquisition, with renovation of the project still unfinished, according to market analysts. The 18,460 square foot site occupied by the property is approved for construction of up to 9,234 square feet under current permitting, according to public records.

Chen took out two mortgages with Bank of East Asia against the luxury asset in March and May in 2019 respectively, Land Registry records showed.

The deal for 15 Gough Hill Road comes after receivers last month sold an apartment previously owned by Chen and his wife Chen Yao Li Ni in Hong Kong’s upscale Mid-Levels area for HK$64.6 million. In 2023 receivers sold Chen’s home at the Opus Hong Kong on the Peak’s Stubbs Road for HK$420 million.

Close-Out Sale

In addition to disposals of Chen’s personal residences, commercial assets held by his corporate empire have also been seized and sold by unpaid lenders. 

Last November, receivers sold One HarbourGate East Tower for HK$2.65 billion, with that building having been known as the Cheung Kei Center when it still served as the group’s Hong Kong headquarters before being seized March 2023. Cheung Kei had acquired the 17-storey property for HK$4.5 billion in 2016.

Last February, receivers sold the 5 Churchill Place office block on London’s Canary Wharf to Israeli real estate investment firm Ariomori Group for £110 million ($134 million), after seizing it from Cheung Kei in May 2023. The asset had lost 60 percent of its value since the mainland investor’s purchase in 2017.