American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, operating at a deficit for past four years, sells pricey office space in Central
- While the sale price was not immediately clear, surveyor suggests it could have fetched HK$160 million despite real estate market woes
- In a May email, staffers had questioned why a sale was being mulled when the influential business group had just taken a significant loan for renovations
The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham) has said goodbye to its grade A office space in Central, selling the property after suffering four years of deficits totalling more than HK$5.6 million (US$723,000), the Post has learned.
The influential business group sold the 6,000 sq ft office at Bank of America Tower – bought in 1996 for more than HK$54 million – earlier this month, an insider said. The selling price was not immediately known.
The move follows AmCham, which operates as a non-governmental organisation, posting losses of more than HK$680,000 in 2016, HK$660,000 in 2017 and HK$1.57 million in 2018, according to financial reports seen by the Post.
AmCham president Tara Joseph later confirmed the deal to the Post, saying it had reached an agreement on the sale but she declined to disclose the price.
“We’ve not completed it but we’ve agreed on the sale. And we are very happy with our current situation,” she said, adding that AmCham would rent the current space from the new owner until the middle of next year.
“This has been a difficult year for all business and organisations but at AmCham we made the strategic decision to use it to follow through on planning our future and to modernise our organisation,” Joseph said. “The current office space is simply not appropriate for the type of digitally friendly and collaborative culture we plan to roll out.”