Hong Kong sells Causeway Bay site for $2.5B

The Hong Kong government auctioned a parcel of land in Causeway Bay this week for the first time since 1997, and it sold for much more than expected.

Hysan Development Co. and Chinachem Group paid the equivalent of $2.5 billion for the 159,330-square-foot property, according to Bloomberg. Midland IC&I most recently valued the property on Caroline Hill Road at around $1.9 billion.

The land would yield about 1.1 million square feet of buildable space. The developers would be required to include some community facilities and 125 public parking spaces.

Causeway Bay is one of Hong Kong’s premier shopping districts. But Hong Kong’s economy was hard hit by nearly a year of widespread protests and then the coronavirus pandemic last year, sending property values and rents down, including in the fashionable area.

So Hysan and Chinachem’s purchase in Causeway Bay is seen by some as a sign that the economy is on the upswing. The partners beat out bids from some of the region’s largest developers, including Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., Wheelock Properties Ltd., and CK Asset Holdings.

Earlier this year, CK Asset Holdings broke a pan-Asia price-per-square-foot record when it sold a five-bedroom unit at a luxury tower in Mid-Levels for $59 million, or $17,542 per square foot.

[Bloomberg] — Dennis Lynch