Sun Hung Kai wins Mong Kok site for US$602.5 million, well below estimates, in year’s first commercial land sale
- The developer’s winning bid for the 11,537-square-metre site ends a string of three aborted land sales because of insufficient bids
- The company will develop a 320-metre tower on the site, which had been expected to fetch at least US$930 million
Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) won the tender for an 11,537-square-metre site in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok district, paying a third less than the low end of the parcel’s valuation to seal the city’s first successful commercial land sale this year.
Hong Kong’s biggest developer by market value submitted a HK$4.729 billion (US$602.5 million) bid for the parcel via its unit East Classic Development, according to an announcement by the Lands Department.
The winning bid was 35 per cent less than the low end of the HK$7.3 billion to HK$12 billion range that valuers were estimating for the plot, located north of Argyle Street and east of Sai Yee Street. The sale came after the government withdrew three previous sites from sale in just over a month because of insufficient bids amid a downbeat market and high interest rates.
Two other groups submitted bids for the property: Century Mark Investments, which is a unit of billionaire Li Ka-shing’s flagship property company CK Asset Holdings, and Sunlight Fortune of Great Eagle Holdings and Sino Land Company.
SHKP plans to develop a 320-metre building with 1.52 million square feet of space, which would tower over the district known for its crowded streets and bustling Fa Yuen Street Market, where sneakers and sports shops are the main attractions.