Two office buildings in Central have been offered for sale by public tender against a background of growing confidence that office rents will continue to rise for the remainder of the year.
Chuang's Consortium International has put its Chuang's Tower at 30-32 Connaught Road Central up for sale with an asking price of HK$1 billion or an average price of HK$16,505 per square foot.
Built in 1975 the 23-storey building offers a total lettable area of 60,587 sq ft, of which 15,937 sq ft is retail space and 44,650 sq ft is office space.
Monthly income is about HK$2 million, according to Savills, which is the sole agent for the public tender.
Sam Mock Wai-ho, deputy senior director of Savills' investment department, said the company had asked for higher rents after it completed renovation of the building last year. Mr Mock expects monthly rental will increase to HK$3.5 million under the new tenant mix.
Meanwhile, the company has also secured government approval to turn the building into a hotel, which would provide one more option to potential buyers.
Property agents said the building had been on the market for private tender for some time but had yet to be sold. The closing date for the public tender is August20.
