Hong Kong’s biggest landowners usurped by mainland developers
In the latest sign, Ping An Real Estate Capital’s venture with Road King Infrastructure outbid 13 developers to secure the right to develop a residential plot at Wong Chuk Hang.
Hong Kong’s largest private landowners and apartment builders have been usurped by capital from north of the border, as mainland Chinese developers snapped up choice land plots to become the new landlords in the city, according to data by a property consultant.
Seven developers -- controlled by Hong Kong’s richest men -- used to win 45 per cent of all residential land sites sold in the city as recently as in 2012. That ratio halved to 22 per cent by last year, according to data by Jones Lang LaSalle, a property consultant.
For the latest proof, look no further than Tuesday’s sale by MTR Corp., the city’s subway operator, of a residential plot next to the Wong Chuk Hang station.
Ping An Real Estate Capital, a unit of China’s second largest insurer Ping An Insurance, teamed up with a small Hong Kong firm called Road King Infrastructure, and outbid 13 developers including the city’s largest builders Cheung Kong, Sino Land, Sun Hung Kai Properties and Henderson Land.
While the MTR hasn’t disclosed how much the winning bid was, analysts value the site at between HK$8 billion to HK$9.8 billion (US$1.26 billion), or HK$14,000 per square foot to HK$17,000 per sq ft based on a total floor area of 576,950 square feet.
Triggered by the depreciation of the yuan against the US dollar and market-cooling measures on the mainland, Chinese developers are pouring their funds into Hong Kong to seek refuge and aim for better returns.