Hongkong Land aims to lure young generation of bankers back to Central with ‘Instagram upgrade’ of office buildings
- The biggest landlord in Central has been experimenting with a youthful aesthetic packed with ‘Instagram moments’ in some of the city’s iconic office buildings
- International companies have been relocating back to Central, where rents are down by a quarter from two years ago
Hongkong Land Holdings, owner of The Landmark and The Exchange Square in Central, is poised to upgrade its half-century old buildings with modern features it hopes will help attract a new generation of millennial bankers and lawyers.
The 132-year-old landlord, which owns some 450,000 square metres of prime office and retail properties in Central, has been experimenting with a more modern aesthetic packed with “Instagram moments” in some of the city’s iconic buildings, where many young hotshots work on IPOs and M&A deals worth billions of dollars.
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Last summer, Hongkong Land launched a modern food court with nine stalls run by some of the city’s trendiest purveyors of food and drink, including Honbo, Co Thanh and Young Master Brewery, in the basement of Jardine House. And a gallery featuring New York graffiti and street art in a replica carriage of the city’s famous subway has been on display since March in the basement of The Landmark.
“What we see is that while the older generation of professionals in suits and ties will continue to have a place in Central, it is also very important to build an ecosystem for the next generation of leaders,” said Raymond Chow, executive director of Hongkong Land, the biggest office landlord in Central.
“Historically bankers and business people like me would spend our 5:30 happy hour meeting friends at bars. But now the new generation might say: ‘Hey, there is a new spinning class at 5:30, we should go spinning.’
“So what that probably means is we provide less bars and put more spinning facilities out there.”