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Sun Hung Kai Properties paid HK$42.2 billion – a record at the time – for the huge plot of land at the High Speed Rail terminus in West Kowloon in 2019. Photo: Winson Wong
Business

UBS to lease office space in Sun Hung Kai’s West Kowloon project from 2026, bringing its Hong Kong staff under one roof

  • The Swiss investment bank said it will lease 250,000 square feet of office space in the tallest tower of the West Kowloon terminus project, scheduled for completion in 2025
  • It is likely the rent is about half that paid by tenants at the IFC, where one of UBS’ offices is currently located, according to a property analyst
Hong Kong property
Cheryl Arcibal
Cheryl Arcibal
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UBS said it will lease 250,000 square feet of office space in the tallest tower of the West Kowloon terminus project, a cluster of commercial buildings scheduled for completion in 2025.
The Swiss investment bank becomes the first anchor tenant at Sun Hung Kai Properties’ development and plans to relocate the staff from its four current office premises to the new space in 2026, according to Amy Lo, co-head of wealth management, Asia-Pacific.
The planned move bucks the trend in the office property market in Hong Kong, where companies are moving back to Central and other districts that are seen as prime business zones. It is likely that the rent is about half that paid by tenants at the International Financial Centre (IFC), where one of UBS’ offices is currently located, according to a property analyst.

“We are excited to be moving to the workplace of the future, with state-of-the-art infrastructure that brings together and empowers all of our UBS colleagues in Hong Kong under one roof,” Lo said. “The office will be built for our purpose and we believe it will improve productivity, collaboration and well-being for colleagues.”

Its location should help UBS connect with the mainland Chinese cities of the Greater Bay Area, and to the wider world, she said.

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) paid HK$42.2 billion (US$5.45 billion) – a record at the time – for the huge plot of land at the High Speed Rail terminus in West Kowloon in 2019. Once complete, it will provide 2.6 million square feet of office space split between two towers, and some 600,000 square feet of retail space in a shopping mall.

It will be connected by a 1.5-kilometre long walkway which will link up Jordan and Yau Ma Tei with the West Kowloon waterfront.

UBS currently has offices at Two International Finance Centre in Central, Infinitus Plaza and Li Po Chun Chambers in Sheung Wan, and One Peking Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, according to a spokeswoman. At IFC, which is part-owned by SHKP, it occupies six floors.
The location of the future UBS office will make it convenient for the organisation’s staff to shuttle back and forth from Hong Kong to the mainland, as the West Kowloon Station is the terminus and only station on the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.
“We are proud to have UBS as our first anchor tenant of this unique project,” said Raymond Kwok, SHKP chairman and managing director. “Not only is their long-term commitment a ringing endorsement of West Kowloon as an integral part of the city’s central business district, it is also a clear vote of confidence in Hong Kong as a key international financial centre when the global economy is facing multiple challenges.”

West Kowloon is emerging as a premier arts hub in Hong Kong, but it is also shaping up to be a business district.

“At IFC, rents are about HK$150 to HK$200 per square foot per month. The cheapest is about HK$120 per square foot per month,” said Vincent Cheung, managing director of Vincorn Consulting and Appraisal. “The rents on offer [in west Kowloon] must have been very cheap to entice a renowned organisation like UBS away from Central to be the anchor tenant of the building.”

James Mak, a sales director at property broker Midland Commercial, added: “The first anchor tenant usually gets an extra discount, and the rent could be as low as HK$40 to HK$45 per square foot.”

In recent months, companies have been snapping up offices in Central as a market downturn in the wake of Covid-19 has made it more affordable.

The office vacancy rate in Hong Kong has risen to 16 per cent from 13.8 per cent in the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Overall office rents have declined by 2.3 per cent.

Additional reporting by Pearl Liu

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