Morgan Stanley to sell tower for HK$700m

Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund is in the final stages of selling its DBS Building in Central for about HK$700 million, sources said.

They said an investor had submitted an offer of HK$7,717 per square foot for the building.

Morgan Stanley's spokesman yesterday declined to comment.

'Early this year, they would not sell the building if your offer was below HK$1 billion, or HK$11,025 per square foot,' one source said.

Even if the fund sold the property at cost, real estate agents said, it had earned an attractive rental income over the past few years.

In March 2006, the fund teamed up with Pamfleet to buy the building for HK$655 million, or HK$7,221 per square foot, from DBS Bank.