Wide-ranging HK$2b project to upgrade its assets reaps rewards for Hang Lung Properties
Norman Chan, the group’s sales and leasing director, says programme will continue until 2019, and cover sites in Hong Kong and the mainland
Hang Lung Properties initiated its bold HK$2 billion, seven-year asset enhancement plan in 2012, just as the retail market entered a lengthy correction at home, and in the mainland, luxury retailers were hit hard by an anti-corruption crackdown by Chinese leaders.
High levels of store vacancies and closures became commonplace, with some top brands postponing their expansions, or scaling back their existing operations.
Norman Chan, who joined Hang Lung in 2013 as sales and leasing director, oversees the group’s 31.2 million square feet of investment properties such as shopping malls, offices, serviced apartments and car parks in Hong Kong, and in the mainland.
The company has projects in eight mainland cities: Shanghai, Shenyang, Jinan, Wuxi, Tianjin, Dalian, Kunming and Wuhan.
Its assets enhancement programme is expected to be completed by 2019 – a combination of renovation of sites by Hang Lung, and redecoration and revamps by its retail tenants themselves.
The company’s operating profit from leasing properties was flat at HK$5.71 billion last year.