A subsidiary of Wharf (Holdings) expects a pick-up of leasing activity in the office property market early next year. New demand is expected to come from projects related to the Disney theme park. Doreen Lee Yuk-fong, general manager of Wharf's unit Harriman Leasing, said the construction of the theme park on Lantau, a venture between Hong Kong Government and Walt Disney, would attract various multinational companies including infrastructure firms in Hong Kong. She said that would boost demand in the office sector and the company's office properties would also benefit. Wharf's major office property on the leasing market is its Gateway II - the three-tower development in Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. The project comprises 2.7 million square feet of retail, office and serviced apartments. According to Wharf's latest annual report, the first phase provides 790,000 sq ft of office space. It also has 670,000 sq ft of serviced apartments, known as Sutton Court and Hamptons Court. The second phase is an office tower of 780,000 sq ft, but leasing for this tower has not yet started. Ms Lee said the first two towers were 40 per cent leased. Major tenants included insurance company CMG Asia, which early this year signed a six-year lease for up to 168,000 sq ft of space as its anchor tenants. Other tenants include CLP Holdings and trading firms. Asking rents average $20 per sq ft in gross, which some agents said was higher than some office properties in core Central. Agents said leasing of Gateway II had slowed in the recent months, suggesting that Wharf should reduce rents to speed up leasing activity. However, Ms Lee said the company had no plans to attract tenants by cutting rents.