PEARL Oriental Holdings has entered into an agreement to acquire the majority of a commercial building in Wan Chai for $343 million. The group will buy a 73 per cent interest in Hua Hsia Building, at 66 Gloucester Road, comprising eight floors, the roof and external wall. The premises have a total floor area of 44,500 square feet and the purchase represents an average cost of about $7,707 per sq ft. Wong Kwan, chairman of Pearl Oriental, said there was scant supply of properties for redevelopment on Gloucester Road where the average office accommodation value already exceeded $8,000 per sq ft. Mr Wong said the building would be put up for strata-title sale. Last month, the company entered into a joint venture with Fortress Capital Investments to buy a commercial property in Central for $600 million.
