Hong Kong’s Excelsior Hotel can still be bought for the right price, says Mandarin Oriental CEO
- The harbourfront Excelsior Hotel can still be had for the right price, says owner Mandarin Oriental
- However plans to rebuild hotel as office tower proceed
The Mandarin Oriental Group will push ahead with its US$650 million plan to redevelop The Excelsior Hotel building in Hong Kong into a Grade A office tower, even as it holds out the possibility that it could still find a buyer for the iconic waterfront building.
Mandarin had called off an earlier sale, first announced in June 2017, after receiving lacklustre offers that failed to meet expectations, after valuers had forecast the property to fetch more than HK$30 billion (US$3.8 billion).
“At an appropriate price it continues to be an asset we would be willing to consider selling,” James Riley, group chief executive of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, said.
“We sought to sell the property, we didn’t get offers which were at a level we felt appropriate, so the thing to do is to get on and do the redevelopment. If someone offers us a good price, the property remains available, but in the meantime we can develop a premium, luxury property.”
Mandarin Oriental announced on October 9 it would develop a 26-storey grade A office tower on the Causeway Bay site, a project expected to take six years and budgeted at US$650 million.