Naked Hub Leases Two Floors From SHK for Kowloon East Centre

Naked Hub has leased two floors in Sun Hung Kai Properties’ Two Harbour Square in Kowloon East for its third centre in Hong Kong. The Shanghai-based co-working operator is now set to occupy the office tower’s top two floors covering a total floor area of 58,000 square feet (5,388 square metres), and has rooftop signage rights.

The new centre will open its doors in July, according to a representative of naked Hub who spoke with Mingtiandi, and is the latest move in an escalating battle for Hong Kong co-working supremacy. US co-working giant, WeWork, leased a full floor covering nearly 36,000 square feet (3,345 square metres) in the same district late August. More recently, naked Hub’s mainland competitor Ucommune, formerly known as UrWork, leased a 15,000-square-foot (1,394 square metre) office in Sheung Wan just this week, marking its entrance into the Hong Kong market.

Co-Working Operator Goes Grade A in Kwun Tong

Two Harbour Square is a grade A office representing phase two of One Harbour Square, a project developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties and Wong’s International. Located adjacent to One Harbour Square along the promenade of Kwun Tong, the property is a 15-minute walk from the Kwun Tong metro station.

Kwun Tong is a former industrial district in Kowloon East, an area being promoted by the government as the city’s second central business district after Central. The Shanghai firm is reported to be paying HK$30 per square foot per month for its new premises in the developing business district, according to local media accounts.

“It is a Grade-A building and to us, the key thing is the 3,200 square feet exclusive terrace which offers the ability to provide a unique amenity to our commercial occupiers who are currently in advanced negotiations with us,” Paul Ogden, Director of Expansion at naked Hub told Mingtiandi. The Gaw Capital-backed flexible office startup was also attracted by the digital rooftop signage rights included with the lease, which paves the way for a 3-metre-high, 44-metre-long naked Hub sign on the side of the building, Ogden added.

The transaction is also the first lease deal signed between a major listed portfolio landlord and a co-working space operator in Hong Kong, and demonstrates the growing acceptance of the co-working model by the city’s top developers, he said.

Hong Kong Co-Working Scene Continues to Heat Up

This will be the third centre for naked Hub in the city following the Shanghai-based shared office operator’s two centres in the city’s Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun districts, which opened last year. The company is set to open more centres in Causeway Bay, Wong Chuk Hang and Kowloon Bay during 2018.

Co-working brands are expanding vigorously in the Asian financial hub. Local operator Campfire Creative Spaces has launched five centres in less than two years, and has a new location upcoming in Quarry Bay next month, while US giant WeWork operates two locations in the city.