Hong Kong developers take to wining and dining office tenants, step up restaurant and bar openings

Most Hong Kong developers are expanding their F&B offerings to better serve and retain tenants amid a rise in vacancy rates

We see a growing demand for lifestyle spaces among office tenants, Hysan executive says

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Hongkong Land launched Basehall, a food court, in the basement of Jardine House last summer. The developer owns about 450,000 square metres of prime office and retail properties in Central. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 8:30am, 1 Jun 2021Updated: 6:19pm, 1 Jun 2021

Hong Kong property developers and landlords are welcoming more restaurants and bars to their office buildings, as they look to offer more entertainment options to their tenants in an otherwise soft office market.

More than five new food and beverage (F&B) outlets are set to open in and around Taikoo Place this year, for instance. These include trendy Australian seafood restaurant Catch, boutique cafe HAVN, Lady M, which is famous for its cakes, and Japanese hand rolled sushi and sake bar TMK.

“Taikoo Place needs to appeal to younger members of the world … we need to make sure that it has all the amenities and restaurants and bars, and I think we have achieved that,” said Don Taylor, the director of office at Swire Properties. The developer owns and operates Taikoo Place and is a major landlord in Quarry Bay.

Most Hong Kong developers are putting more effort into expanding their F&B offerings to better serve and retain tenants amid a rise in vacant spaces in their office buildings. The vacancy rate for grade A offices rose to 7.9 per cent in Central in April, 12.4 per cent in Wan Chai and 7.5 per cent in Causeway Bay, according to Knight Frank.

“Office tenants nowadays are, in general, more demanding, while landlords would like to enhance the image of their building and provide extra amenities to tenants,” said Oliver Tong, head of retail at JLL in Hong Kong.

Don Taylor, the director of office at Swire Properties. Photo: Edmond So