Inside the dorm-style Hong Kong apartments proving a hit with single young graduates
An influx of mainland students has led to the mushrooming of dormitory-style apartments
Falling housing prices in Hong Kong are not necessarily a bad thing – at least for young property innovators able to benefit from cheaper rents to convert space into something fun, such as a hub for freshly graduated employees fond of sharing space in a close-knit community.
Enter M3 International Youth Community – the brainchild of Andy Zhang, a Hong Kong-based mainland entrepreneur, who said his idea came from a popular mainland rental apartment start-up called You+ International Youth Community that offers accommodation for entrepreneurs and young people.
In 2014, You+ made many headlines in mainland media after attracting 100 million yuan in funding from Lei Jun, the founder of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.
On the mainland, such youth-targeted apartments are mostly concentrated in big cities to meet pent-up demand from the large numbers of young people who choose to remain there after completing their studies. Hong Kong also fits into that market category. An influx of mainland students has led to the mushrooming of similar dormitory-style apartments locally in recent years.
“It’s all about niche markets,” Zhang said. “Our targeted customers are unmarried fresh graduates that are between 18 and 45.”
Watch: Take a tour of Hong Kong’s youth-targeted, dorm-style apartments