Island Crest offers all the convenience you need
Living in Hong Kong can be pretty convenient: shopping malls, supermarkets or gyms are often just a short MTR or bus ride away from home. However, as modern city dwellers, it is normal for us to demand more.
Kerry Properties has come up with Island Crest to meet these needs by combining a residential property, shopping mall and MTR station in one, right in the heart of the city centre.
Located in Mid-Levels West, Island Crest is across the street from the soon-to-be-opened Sai Ying Pun MTR station.
No date has been set for when the apartments will go on sale, although Centaline Property Agency says that it will be soon. Yet, with numerous attractive factors playing to its advantage, it is not difficult to imagine why the property agency believes the number of transactions in the area will rise dramatically after sales begin.
'Inquiries for Island Crest began at the end of last year, but the number of transactions this month isn't as high compared to the past two months because people are waiting for the opening [of Island Crest]', says Ada Ng, StatelyHome regional associate director Mid-Levels West at Centaline Property Agency.
Ng believes that sales at Island Crest apartments could match the sale of apartments at 9 Seymour Road, in which 69 out of 82 apartments were sold within two weeks.
The Kerry Properties project can be divided into two parts - a shopping mall occupies the lower floors with two residential buildings from the seventh floor upwards. There are 36 floors in each residential block with the top level designated as the 50th floor.
As is now customary, several floors have been left out in the numbering. In this case there will be no fourth, 13th, 14th, 24th, 34th, 40th, 42nd and 44th floors and the 29th floor is designated as a garden for residents.
With 488 apartments in total, the normal ones range from 500 sqft to 1,200 sqft with one to three bedrooms.
On the top three floors, there are 20 specially designed apartments and six duplexes. Residents will either have a view of Victoria Harbour or The Peak.
While the developer will not be drawn on exact prices, saying only that starting prices would range from HK$12,000 per square foot upwards, Ng believes prices could be substantially higher. 'At such a convenient spot with a new MTR station and a new escalator that leads down to Des Voeux Road coming soon, and not to mention the small apartments available that are popular among all people, the prices of normal apartments that do not have a sea view could go up to around HK$15,000 to HK$16,000 per sq ft.'
Kerry Properties is part of Kerry Group, the largest shareholder of the SCMP Group, publisher of the South China Morning Post.