‘Cheesegrater’ owner CC Land says London better value than Hong Kong
‘With the same money, you could only buy a second-class commercial building in North Point,’ said CC’s deputy chairman Peter Lam
CC Land, the Hong Kong property developer that made headlines earlier in the year for its acquisition of London’s landmark “Cheesegrater” skyscraper, is keen on snapping up more property in Britain, where targets have become “much more affordable” compared with Hong Kong, says its deputy chairman.
The company has completed three headline London acquisitions so far this year, as part of its change in strategic focus from mainland China to overseas markets.
The developer surprised the market in March when it bought the Leadenhall Building in London, the Square Mile’s tallest tower known as the “Cheesegrater”, for £1.135 billion (US$1.4 billion), marking the largest ever Chinese purchase of British real estate.
Most recently, partnering with Guangzhou R&F Properties, it has also emerged as the buyer of a £470 million, 10-acre high-end apartment project at New Covent Gardent Market in the UK capital’s Nine Elms district.
That land plot had been set to be sold to Chinese magnate Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group, but Wanda scrapped its plans last week, amid heightened scrutiny of its debt levels by the Chinese government.