Chinachem’s One Hennessy Office Tower Now 80% Leased in Hong Kong

Chinachem Group announced on Wednesday that its One Hennessy officer tower in Hong Kong’s Wanchai district has leased all but four of the available floors among its 21 storeys of office space some three months before the building’s scheduled completion.

The grade A office tower located at 1 Hennessy Road, rides Wanchai’s western edge where it rubs against the tonier streets of Admiralty, however, the 34,755 square metre (374,000 square foot) project is asking rents that until recently would have seemed more at home in the blue-chip precincts of Central than close-by the red-lit sidewalks of Wanchai.

With JLL acting as sole leasing agent, the tower, which is a redevelopment of the Asian House building which formerly occupied the site, carries asking rentals of up to HK$100 per square foot per month, nearly half-way between the average grade A rate of HK$136 per square foot per month in the Greater Central and Admiralty area and the HK$77 per square foot typically fetched by similar space in the Wanchai/Causeway Bay area.

JLL Pushing Last Four Floors in Downtown Hong Kong

“One Hennessy’s fundamental location and specification are set to draw a big response from occupiers, which has been proven by the swift pre-commitment rate. With only four floors still available, and being the only new supply in the CBD for the next three years at the least, we encourage occupiers to experience One Hennessy first hand,” said Paul Yien, head of landlord representation at JLL.

According to JLL, 80 percent of the office space in the building is already leased with the Greater Central area, as well as Wanchai and Causeway Bay districts, all having record-low vacancy rates of 1.7 percent or less during the third quarter for grade A office space.

Mainland Tenants Dominate Wanchai Tower

A pair of mainland tenants, Pudong Development Bank and co-working operator Kr Space have leased a majority of the space in the building, accounting for 14 full floors. In May Pudong Development Bank took the top five floors of the building to secure the much-prized harbour views, while Kr Space signed up for the 11th through the 19th levels during the same month.

According to an account in the South China Morning Post, Kr Space is paying around HK$80 per square foot per month for its 83,000 square foot property. Pudong Development Bank is said to be paying HK$100 per square foot for its 60,000 square foot space, which sets a new high-end for office leases in the area.

An asset management firm has leased three mid-zone floors, according to JLL, with only four high zone levels remaining available.

Chinachem Redevelops Wanchai Commercial Site

In addition to its office space, which spans approximately 254,000 square feet at between 11,900 to 12,300 square feet per floor, One Hennessy has a two-storey retail podium that provides 24,500 square feet of retail space.

The shopping area caters primarily to food and beverage tenants, who pay an average of  HK$70 to HK$100 per square foot per month to help feed the hungry office dwellers descending from above.

Chinachem Group, which is chaired by Donald Choi, began redeveloping the project in 2013, when it knocked down the company’s 44-year-old Asian House tower to build the new commercial building. Designed by local design firm DLN Architects, One Hennessy was pre-certified as LEED Gold by the US Green Building Council.