World’s most expensive parking space in Hong Kong changes owners for US$969,000, triple the city’s median home price
- The transacted price is equivalent to US$7,205 per sq ft for a standard parking space that measures 134.5 sq ft, more than three times Hong Kong’s median home price
- The seller, logistics heir Johnny Cheung Shun-yee, said he sold the last of his four spots in The Center to someone who owns an office in the same tower
Johnny Cheung Shun-yee, one of the 10 investors in the consortium that paid US$5.15 billion last year for The Center, told the South China Morning Post that he had sold the last of his four car parks in the tower to someone who owns an office in the same building because “the buyer now needs a car park lot,” declining to identify the buyer.
The transacted price is equivalent to HK$56,505 per sq ft for a standard parking space that measures 134.5 sq ft (12.5 square metres), more than three times Hong Kong’s median home price, which itself had topped global rankings for nine consecutive years, according to data by CBRE.
“Good times or bad times, there are still ultra-rich people paying whatever needed to get what they like,” said James Mak, Midland Commercial's district sales director.
The parking space, identified as bay B1-1023, is currently vacant, pending the completion of its sale. The lot is on the top of The Center’s three-level basement, reserved as executive parking for tenants only, and the sold unit sits against a wall with an alcove, which provides easier access for the owner, agents said.
Parking bays for vehicles had been a much sought-after status symbol and investment option in land-scarce Hong Kong, as many mainland Chinese tenants had snapped up prime commercial real estate for their financial services, wealth management and banking businesses.
“There aren’t many car park lots in Central’s office towers for sale, so prices have always been kept high,” Mak said.
The building, which provided the set for a scene in the 2007 Hollywood blockbuster Bat Man: The Dark Knight, has only 402 parking bays serving 1.2 million sq ft of office space. The average price of the bays currently stands at HK$6 million, agents said.
Two car parks in the second basement, also owned by Cheung, sold in August for a combined HK$12.7 million, according to sales agents.
