CK Asset to extend leases to 18-months for selected rooms at four hotels as rental market softens
- The new leases will apply to 50 rooms at hotels in Ma On Shan, Hung Hom and Kwai Chung
CK Asset Holdings, which is headed by retired tycoon Li Ka-shing’s elder son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, will extend leases for 50 rooms at four of its hotels to 18 months from a year, amid signs that the residential rental market is trending downward.
CK Asset said the offer would allow tenants to lock in a fixed fee under a longer lease term.
The move comes as Hong Kong’s residential rental index fell to an eight-month low in March. Average rents in March were down 2.8 per cent from a peak in October.
The group’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Horizon Hotels & Suites, said on Monday the new leases would apply to selected rooms at the Horizon Suites in Ma On Shan, Apex Horizon Suites in Kwai Chung, and, in Hung Hom, Harbourfront Horizon Suites and Harbourview Horizon Suites from now until the end of May.
The hotels provide 4,800 rooms in two-bedroom and three-bedroom layouts and have enjoyed an average occupancy rate of more than 90 per cent, according to Joseph Lau, a director at Cheung Kong Real Estate.
More than 40 per cent of the occupants are workers or students from overseas, 30 per cent are senior management executives and the remaining 30 per cent are local residents.
In December, CK Asset submitted an application to redevelop the Harbour Plaza Resort City hotel in Tin Shui Wai, which charges about HK$500 per night (US$63.72), into a dense housing estate accommodating 5,000 flats, according to a document filed with the Town Planning Board.
William Cheng Kai-ming, chairman of Magnificent Hotel Investments, said the longer lease offer would help provide CK Asset with stable rental income from the properties.
“Given the locations of these hotels, they are not targeting tourists,” he said.
