Commercial Site In West Kowloon Expected To Sell For Up To US$1.3bil
HONG KONG – A commercial site spanning 65,000 sq m (about 699,654 sq ft) that has been put up for tender by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority is expected to fetch up to HK$10.5 billion (US$1.3 billion), reported the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Friday evening (9 September, SGT).
This is based on one valuation, and the high expected price tag is due to a forecast that the city’s tourism sector is likely to have recovered from its pandemic doldrums by the time building work is finished in 4 to 5 years.
Estimates put construction costs at HK$8 billion, and the land will be used for the construction of 3 commercial buildings with office space, retail, and entertainment components.
According to the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, it will be a “landmark commercial development” to be called the Artist Square Towers (AST) Project.
“The AST Project is one of the flagship commercial developments [in the area] dedicated to creating a new cultural central business district in Hong Kong.”
Notably, the winning bidder will obtain the development and operational rights over the AST Project for 47 years under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) deal, unlike the typical 50-year grant provided for other land tenders in the Chinese territory.
Apart from being near the West Kowloon Station, the land plot is just a stone’s throw away from the commercial and residential area on top of Kowloon Station. Notably, the West Kowloon Station is the terminus and the only station on the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.
The commercial site is situated within the West Kowloon Cultural District, a 40ha mega project touted as the arts and cultural hub of Hong Kong’s. It is within proximity lies close to cultural and tourist attractions, such as the recently opened Hong Kong Palace Museum, the M+ contemporary art museum, an 11ha Art Park facing Victoria Harbour, and the under-construction Lyric Theatre Complex.
“The project will have good prospects in the long term, as after the opening of the Palace Museum, M+ and other facilities, the district will become a true cultural hub with a strong market position,” said Colliers Hong Kong’s Head of valuation and advisory services, Hannah Jeong.
“Once the office and retail development is completed, the West Kowloon area will be another business hub [that is] even larger than the Quarry Bay island east hub. The project will be suitable for end users like large corporates looking for exclusive use of the building with a good naming-rights signage facing Victoria Harbour,” she added.
The tender submissions for the commercial site will close at 5pm on 14 November 2022.
