PART of Chungking Mansions may be subdivided and sold by strata title following the Lippo Group's purchase of a substantial block of retail space there last week.
This will give investors a chance to buy into the IFJ Fashion Square, one of Tsim Sha Tsui's busiest shopping areas.
The Lippo Group-led consortium, through its publicaly listed property investment arm, Hongkong China Ltd, paid $680 million for 60,000 sq ft of retail space, including 3,000 square feet of advertising space fronting on to Nathan Road. The other consortium members were J. F. Asian Realty and Pearl Glorious Investment.
The shopping area comprises G/F Shop No 3, Shops Nos 1-15 on the first floor and the entire second floor of Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road.
Plans have been drawn up to split the shopping podium into 220 to 230 shops of about 300 sq ft, according to Mr Antonio Wu, assistant director of First Pacific Davies, who arranged the deal.
''This will be an extremely good opportunity for investors and end-users to buy their own shop in such a prime location, as most ground floor shops in the neighbourhood are for lease only,'' Mr Wu said.
''The retail market remains extremely active, with ground floor shop rents along the Golden Mile of Nathan Road reaching almost $600 per sq ft, so most retailers would prefer to buy their premises as a hedge against rising rents.'' He added there should be potential for capital appreciation.