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Kenneth Ko

SINO Land and Wheelock Properties, undeterred by the weak market conditions, are leasing 20 flats in a joint-venture luxury residential development in Kowloon at record high rates.

  Average monthly rents for flats at the Astrid in Argyle Street are estimated at $37 a square foot and those for duplexes are at $46.

  Property agents said the asking rents were record highs for residential properties in Kowloon and would face almost certain resistance from potential tenants.

  They expected initial response to the offer, launched last Thursday, to be flat.

  They also said this was the first batch of the units offered and developers wanted to test the market.

  Ada Ng, Waterloo branch manager for L & D Associates, said the asking rents were much higher than market rates, but the property itself commanded high quality and good views and locations.

  For luxury flats in nearby areas, rents were only $20 to $25 a square foot a month, she said.

  Ms Ng said tenants targeted by the developers were mainly senior civil servants and companies which needed to provide quality accommodation for expatriate staff.

  Kelvin Lam, senior sales manager for Kowloon and Sai Kung of Ricacorp Properties, said executives, mostly expatriates or foreigners, from certain big companies including Cathay Pacific Airways had visited the show flats of the project.

  He expected about 50 to 60 per cent of the 20 units would be leased out even with the high asking rents.

  But he said timing for the launch of the Astrid was not so good because the number of properties put on lease had increased in recent months. Many landlords who could not sell their units had decided to rent them instead.

  Mr Lam also said similar flats in the Astoria and the Arcadia, both also built by Sino Land, were leased at a monthly rate of $26 to $30 a square foot, which might absorb some potential tenants.

  He said the leasing market had become more active recently but he expected some of the rental properties would be put on sale after the Lunar New Year as market sentiment improved.

  Although there was limited new supply of luxury residential properties in Argyle Street, agents said the lease of Astrid units, at asking rents higher than market rates, would draw slow response.

  One agent said units at the lower levels of the project could be bargains for potential tenants, quoting as an example a 705 sq ft unit on the fifth floor which is asking for $21,000 a month and a similar unit on the 15th floor which is seeking about $30,000.

  Some agents said rental units of Parc Oasis in Yau Yat Chuen, near the Mass Transit Railway station in Kowloon Tong, also posed competition for the Astrid units. Parc Oasis units are charging monthly rents of about $28 to $30 a square foot - lower than those for the Astrid.

FACT FILE DEVELOPMENT: The Astrid, a twin-tower luxury residential development in Argyle Street, Kowloon.

DEVELOPERS: Sino Land and Wheelock Properties FLATS OFFERED FOR RENT: 20 in Block Two SIZE OF FLATS: 705 to 1,222 sq ft, with 1,460 to 2,322 sq ft for duplexes AVERAGE RENT: $37 per square foot a month for normal units; $46 per square foot a month for duplexes.

TOTAL NUMBER OF FLATS: 176 TOTAL FLOOR AREA: 85,506 sq ft DATE OF OFFICIAL MARKETING: Now EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: April or May SOLE SALES AGENT: Sino Land FACILITIES: Residents' clubhouse and 154 car parking spaces LEASE PERIOD: Two years 



Record rents set for flats