Emperor Group Consolidates Site for 62-Home Project in Hong Kong’s Sai Ying Pun

Emperor International, the listed development subsidiary of Emperor Group, has consolidated a project in Hong Kong’s Western district with plans to build 62 new homes in the Sai Ying Pun neighbourhood.

On Wednesday, Emperor agreed to acquire the space it does not yet own in 70-76 Queen’s Road West through an auction by compulsory sale which valued the aging properties at HK$241 million ($31 million). Hong Kong’s compulsory sale law allows owners of no less than 65 percent of a building 50 years or more in age to apply for a forced auction of the remaining space to accelerate redevelopment.

Emperor International plans to merge its new acquisition with an adjacent site which it consolidated in 2021 to develop a project of up to 49,000 square feet (4,552 square metres) of gross floor area near Hollywood Road Park west of Central.

The developer pushed forward with the Sai Ying Pun buy despite its parent organisation, Emperor Group, having sold a number  of properties over the last year in an effort to ease its debt burden.

Queen’s Road West Plans

By combining its new property with 78-80 Queen’s Road West, which also fronts on Hollywood Road, Emperor will have a combined site of 5,505 square feet, while also gaining the opportunity to build as high as 23 floors.

“The adjacent site is a corner site which allows higher plot ratio. Upon combining the two sites, the whole land would be benefited from higher plot ratio,” Alex Leung, chief surveyor at Hong Kong-based CHFT Advisory and Appraisal, told Mingtiandi when Emperor won approval for the compulsory sale in February.

Emperor’s plans for project call for 21 residential floors with 62 flats above a 2-storey retail podium, according to CHFT, with the project located within a five minute walk of Sai Ying Pun MTR station.

Last week’s successful compulsory sale was announced by property consultancy Savills, which managed the auction.

Emperor is adding the site to its holdings as home prices have fallen about 23 percent since 2021, according to statistics from the city’s Rating and Valuation department.

While home prices have declined, Emperor has seen its cost of acquisition also take a dip, with the valuation for its purchase of 70-76 Queen’s Road West last week representing a 30 percent from what it paid to consolidate the adjacent plot in in 2021. The company demolished the building at the intersection of Queen’s Road West and Hollywood Road in early 2024.

Buying Amid Cash Crunch

Emperor International, which has a portfolio of 11 investment properties spread across Beijing and London, in addition to its home city, picked up its Sai Ying Pun project amid financial struggles for the group controlled by tycoon Albert Yeung Sau-shing.

In November last year sister company Emperor Entertainment Hotel, the group’s HKEX-listed hospitality arm, agreed to sell a 57-unit serviced apartment block in Hong Kong’s Kennedy Town area for a property value of HK$275 million, after its price fell nearly by half in two years.

In July Emperor International agreed to sell a portfolio of retail, residential and industrial properties across Hong Kong to a vehicle controlled by Yeung as sought to ease a then-HK$20.2 billion debt burden.

In the six months ending 30 September Emperor International suffered a loss of HK$757 million, after losing more than HK$1 billion a year earlier, according to its interim report.