High-end office properties in Causeway Bay to lure major global tenants, JLL says
sluggish property market.
Following Jane Street Asia's record-setting HK$30.6 million (US$3.9 million) a month lease for a 223,437 square foot space in
Henderson Land's New Central Harbourfront project in Central, one veteran deal-maker said Causeway Bay was expected to see Hong Kong's next major office leasing deal.
'Trophy buildings with large floor plates in Causeway Bay will be the new focus of the market and will draw more tenants,' said Paul Yien, the executive director for office leasing advisory at JLL, who has been an agent for 25 years.
The area is more well-known for shopping and dining than it is for office space. But Lee Garden Eight, a joint venture between Hysan Development – Causeway Bay's largest commercial landlord – and Chinachem Group was expected to be finished next year. It will feature more than 1 million sq ft of office space and a floor plate that could be as large as 38,000 sq ft, the largest on Hong Kong Island.
Yien said he was confident in Causeway Bay because it is vibrant and bustling even on weekends and has a broader mix of tenants. JLL is the main agent for Lee Garden Eight.
'Causeway Bay is much more diverse in terms of tenants,' Yien said. 'In Central it's mostly banking and finance tenants, the hedge funds and private equity firms. In Causeway Bay, there are all sorts of different business sectors: security firms, accountants, lawyers, technology [companies], so we see them clustering there.'
In addition, the neighbourhood's retail and dining options run the gamut from affordable to high-end, he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
a few seconds ago
- South China Morning Post
Standard Chartered aims to convert depositors into investors with digital platform
Standard Chartered, one of Hong Kong's three note-issuing banks, on Wednesday launched a digital platform that allows investments in fund products with as little as HK$100 (US$12.80), hoping to turn depositors into investors. Advertisement SC Invest would allow investors to choose from four fund products via their mobile phones or desktop computers, according to Alson Ho Man-chun, head of wealth solutions at Standard Chartered Hong Kong. 'We have seen that many of our depositors have stable income and are well educated, but then they have no investment experience,' Ho said. The new digital platform aims to encourage these depositors to try putting as little as HK$100 to gain some investment experience, he added. The four funds have different risk levels, one of which is a multicurrency fund, while the others are a combination of stocks and bonds based on the criteria set by the lender's chief investment officer. Alson Ho, head of wealth solutions at Standard Chartered Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong A study by Standard Chartered showed that depositors were risk averse and they worried about the high minimum investment thresholds and complicated account opening process, Ho said. They were also concerned about hidden fees and how to choose the right investment product, he said, adding that no subscription fees would be charged until the end of this year. Advertisement 'These investors may only invest a few [hundred dollars] now,' Ho said, adding that he hoped to convert these investors into premium and private-banking customers as their wealth continued to grow in the future.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
China's Hermitage Capital bets big on AI as it sees tech shaping the future
One of Asia's top private equity funds is betting big on artificial intelligence and humanoid robots, envisioning a future where AI-powered implants are plugged into human brains, allowing people to experience the world in ways once confined to science fiction. The euphoria surrounding AI will define this decade, according to Sean Xiang Yuqiu, founder of Hermitage Capital . 'It's just like 1995, when the internet era took off and ran for 20 years, giving rise to legendary companies like Yahoo, Amazon and Google,' he said in an interview with the Post recently. Xiang, who has been featured in the latest edition of Fortune China magazine's 40 Chinese business elites under 40 released on Tuesday, said Hermitage would invest at least US$500 million in the AI and robotic sectors over the next three years. With a decade of experience at Wall Street investment bank JPMorgan Chase before founding Hermitage Capital in 2017, Xiang said the company's investments focused on building a global AI ecosystem, ranging from hardware like graphics processing units to large language models (LLMs) and intelligent robotics. 03:16 China shows off latest AI innovations at international conference in Shanghai China shows off latest AI innovations at international conference in Shanghai He drew a parallel to humanoid robot making to illustrate his investment strategy. 'You need a brain to process information, eyes to observe the world and blood as your power source,' he said. 'It must also sense the external world and respond to it effectively. We've invested across all these areas, from foundational AI models to robot chips to solid-state batteries and home robots that free people from tedious chores.' Computer vision led the first wave of AI's evolution, which was now largely mature, Xiang said. 'We are currently riding the natural processing language wave, dominated by LLMs. The foundation models' valuation will still have a five to 10 times return potential.'
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
US-China trade truce a test of both countries' stamina
After two weeks of mixed signals from Washington, US President Donald Trump has finally confirmed an agreement with China to extend the tariff war truce for another 90 days. The new pause, approved hours before the ceasefire was due to end, headed off the risk of escalation. It sets the stage for a test of stamina and resilience between the world's two biggest economies as they try to reach a reciprocal tariffs deal. The extension, agreed between top officials in talks in Stockholm last month but subject to Trump's approval, reflects the reality that neither possessed enough leverage to push the other to make a big compromise. Moreover, political and policy expectations are different, particularly in Washington. Among Trump supporters, there remain those who still insist on playing hardball with China. The question is what will happen now. Both sides are trying to buy time, but from different perspectives. Voices in the US talk up the possibility of the Chinese economy coming under pressure, though it performed better than expected in the first six months of the year. Doubters hope this was partly driven by US importers placing early orders for Chinese goods ahead of higher tariffs. In the next six months, China's economy faces a deteriorating external environment and some structural issues. While this would put the US in a stronger position, there are now many people talking up risks on the US side – national debt, lower-than-expected job creation, and inflation, for example. That said, there is an element of wishful thinking on both sides about the erosion of the other's position. Far from foreshadowing a mutually acceptable deal on tariffs, the truce is a test of each economy's stamina during political and economic negotiations. Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. There are hopes that Trump and President Xi Jinping will meet later this year. A positive outcome all round could build the impetus for meaningful reductions in proposed tariffs. Trump's attempts to talk up increased US soybean exports to China says as much about his need to shore up rural electoral support as it does about China's need for them, given diversified sources.
