Biel Crystal Set To Build Ginza-style Commercial Project With Offices In Kowloon East
HONG KONG – Local company Biel Crystal can now build a 39-storey building with office space after it finally bought the last portion of a prime site in Kwun Tong in Kowloon East after starting the process 9 years ago, reported Mingtiandi on Sunday evening (16 April, SGT).
Last Wednesday, one of the largest glass makers for iPhones and other devices took full control of the Yip Fat Factory Building 1 at 75 Hoi Yuen Road under the city’s compulsory sale regime, enabling Biel Crystal to obtain full ownership of the last of three buildings required for the company to start developing a commercial development measuring 720,000 sq ft close to the Kwun Tong MTR Station.
Via the auction, the iPhone glass maker acquired the remaining few rooms it did not yet own in the 45-year-old building that valued the industrial property at almost HK$2.4 billion.
This follows two similar compulsory sales managed by Savills, in which Biel Crystal took full ownership of the adjacent Yip Fat Factory Building 2 along Hoi Yuen Road, and the Good Year Industrial Building at How Ming Street. Collectively, the three buildings are valued at HK$5.1 billion.
Consequently, the iPhone glass maker is now ready to consolidate the three properties next to the APM mall, with the company having obtained conditional planning approval in May 2022 to construct a Ginza-style commercial project.
Based on Biel Crystal’s proposal to the Metro Planning Committee in late 2021 that was greenlighted in May 2022, the lower floors of the project are intended for retail premises, while the upper levels will be occupied by office spaces, noted CHFT Advisory and Appraisal’s Chief Surveyor Alex Leung.
Comparatively, “headline rents for The Millennity, a new office block in Kwun Tong, are in the region of HK$28 psf per month. For retail units on upper floors, the rents could range from HK$35 to HK$45 per month,” he shared.
However, Biel Crystal still needs to seek permission from the relevant government agency to change the land zoning to allow for commercial use, Leung added.
