Great Eagle Holdings, the landlord of Citibank Plaza, has predicted office rents in Central will return to 2000 levels this year.

Assistant director Adrian Lee said the net effective rent in Central, now at about $25 per square foot, could rise to about $40 per square foot by the year-end, fuelled by a lack of expected office supply in 2007.

'I expect the office supply will be around 308,000 sq.ft [next year], with a similar amount of supply in 2006. However, no new supply in 2007 is seen at the moment,' he said.