Foreign Property News | Posted by Hnin Ei Khin
Just three months after winning a Kowloon Tong residential site for HK$1.6 billion, Hong Kong-listed Lai Sun Development continues to focus on the city’s quickening luxury market, with its acquisition of a pair of adjacent properties in the Mid-Levels area for a combined HK$1.3 billion ($166.8 million).
Analysts expect luxury residential apartments to be built on the site at on 1-1A Kotewall Road, with Cyrus Fong, senior director for valuation and advisory at Knight Frank, noting that should the property be redeveloped, it could be worth from HK$2 billion to HK$2.5 billion upon completion.
Lai Sun is paying as much as HK$22,628 per square foot of floor area to acquire the 74-year-old buildings from an in-law of billionaire Li Ka Shing, according to sources familiar with the deal.
The developer is making its latest effort to boost its pipeline of upscale housing projects as luxury home prices in the city are set to rise as much as 5 percent in 2022, according to a report by property services Knight Frank last month.
Traditional Luxury Area- Located at the junction of Kotewall Road and Robinson Road, the properties will provide their new owner with a consolidated 11,490 square foot (1,067 square metre) site. Should the developer win approval to boost the plot ratio to the area’s current maximum of 5 from the current 1.3, Lai Sun’s new residential project could yield a maximum floor area of 57,450 square feet.
Given its location, the developer may opt to build large homes averaging 2,500 square feet each to appeal to mid to high income families, said Hannah Jeong, head of valuation and advisory services at Colliers Hong Kong. If Lai Sun pursues this strategy, the project would provide less than 20 homes, she added.
The Mid-Levels, a traditional luxury residential market just uphill from the prime commercial district in Central, is an area highly sought after by developers, though land supply is limited according to Fong.
“Average selling prices of new apartments in the Mid-Levels have ranged between HK$30,000 to HK$40,000 per square foot for smaller units in recent years”, said Fong, who added that units at Lai Sun’s newly acquired property could sell for around HK$40,000 to HK$50,000 per square foot upon completion.
More Mid-Levels Flats
Lai Sun’s purchase is the latest in a string of luxury project acquisitions in Hong Kong islands prime residential districts within the last two months, including Henderson Land Development acquiring a residential property valued at HK$522.1 million on Robinson Road in the Mid-Levels through a compulsory sale for redevelopment last month
Ref: mingtiandi
