浸会医院3128万沽葵涌工厦

浸会医院近期接连沽货，据土地註册处资料，葵涌香港毛纺工业大厦中层4室及5室，本月18日以3128万售，以面积10156方呎计，呎价约3080元。原业主为香港浸信会医院，于2004年以290万购入上址，持货16年帐面获利2838万，期间升值约9.8倍。

事实上，浸会医院于疫市下频频沽货。资料显示，由浸会医院持有的观塘丝宝国际大厦低层全层，于上月以约1.59亿沽出，呎价约9500元，低市价约两成，并创该厦6年以来新低。

(星岛日报)

更多丝宝国际大厦写字楼出售资讯请参阅：丝宝国际大厦写字楼出售

更多观塘区甲级写字楼出售楼盘资讯请参阅：观塘区甲级写字楼出售

寿臣山美领馆地 恒隆未能完成收购

外交部：驻港美领馆任何买卖 须中方同意

中国政府罕有介入香港物业买卖，原本由恒隆地产 (00101) 以25.6亿购入的美国领事馆宿舍屋地，突然因涉及外交问题，未能如期完成收购。中国外交部解释，驻港美领馆任何买卖均要获中方同意。

美国驻港澳总领事馆在今年5月招标出售，位于寿臣山寿山村道37号的宿舍屋地，并在9月公布由恒隆地产以25.6亿元夺得，楼面地价每呎5.4万元，发展商已经支付10%的订金，原定在昨日 (12月30日) 完成交易。

不过，恒隆地产昨日发出公告，表示未能完成收购美国驻港澳总领事馆宿舍地皮，因涉及中美外交事务，形容非买方能控制，并称正评估延长完成交易时间的可能性。

涉外交事务 土地註册处拒办理

按照恒隆通告中详细说明，集团在12月21日接到土地註册处的函件指，拒绝办理有关买卖协议，因美国驻港总领事馆非一般商业主体，物业非普通房产，而交易涉及中美两国之间的外交事务，并非一般商业行为。

文件更披露，由于中国中央政府告知香港特区政府，若美国领事馆要出售任何位于香港特区的房地产，美国政府应提前60天申请，得到中国政府书面答覆同意后方可办理有关手续，即外交义务之后才可进行。

中国外交部发言人汪文斌昨日证实，鑑于美方对外国驻美国使领馆房地产管理规定，根据对等原则，中方要求美驻华使领馆，包括驻香港总领馆，在租赁、购置、出售或以其他任何方式获得或处置房地产，以及实施馆舍新建、改建、扩建、修缮等工程时，亦要向中方提出书面申请，获得书面同意后方可办理有关手续。

港府：严格依照中央规定行事

特区政府发言人补充指，会严格依照中央政府的规定行事。

至于恒隆曾经一度要求美国政府提交达成外交义务的证明文件，不过美国政府方面回覆，对于遵从该外交义务的必要性有异议，并称外交义务属于主权之间的事宜，并不影响该物业的业权，土地註册处亦无权不进行註册。

对于今次事件的发展，地产界普遍感意外，有测量师称，相信是首次出现同类事件，难预测后续发展，若果今次交易被视为无效，恒隆方面已提交的10%订金安排，到底是「杀订」还是「赔订」都会有争议，因此现阶段只有延长协议。

另一测量师亦指，事件的来龙去脉仍然属未知数，包括香港政府有否告知业主有关规定，而美国领事馆到底是明知故犯还是不知情，认为外界难以推测责任谁属，但相信现阶段事件不至于影响外国机构投资港香港物业的信心。

(经济日报)

佳寧娜2.9亿 夺深水埗海坛街地盘

由佳寧娜 (00126) 等收购的深水埗海坛街223至225A号旧楼，昨日进行强拍，成功以底价2.931亿元投得项目，以可建楼面约4.26万平方呎，每呎楼面地价约6,887元。

佳寧娜行政总裁梁百忍指，集团首次发展香港住宅物业，强调集团为港资公司，只是在大湾区发展；而宏达投资董事尹德辉指，集团目前优先收购俗称「无敌契」的物业，项目将于2022年发售。

另一方面，铜锣湾景隆街新安大厦将于1月5日公开拍卖，拍卖底价14.5亿元。

(经济日报)

油塘工厦一篮子单位 意向价3.5亿

政府撤回非住宅物业辣税下，带动业主放盘意慾，新近有业主放售油塘工业大厦第4座一篮子单位连车位，意向价约3.5亿元。

有代理指，现正放售为位处油塘四山街18至20号油塘工业大厦第4座一篮子单位及车位，当中单位面积合共约67,525平方呎，包括全层地厂，面积约37,000平方呎，另连7个货车车位及2个私家车车位，而是次出售部分佔整个地段业权份数约43%，扣除车位价值后，楼面呎价约5,000元。

连7货车及2私家车车位

油塘工业大厦第4座为4层高工厦，于1979年落成，物业向南的单位可享维港景之餘，尚可眺望油塘湾及港岛东海景。至于物业亦备货车车路可直达各层各单位，适合于从事车辆机械维修或物流货仓之用，属市场罕有放盘。

据悉，业主自用上址作货仓用，现计划于明年初搬离油塘区，并交吉出售。上址首次于市场放售，呎价贴近市场水平，按现时市值租金计算，预期收租回报率可逾3.5厘，而上述一篮子单位同时可分拆出售，以应不同用家或投资者所需，使物业在放售上更灵活。

而据EPRC经济地产库资料显示，今年以来油塘区录得近20宗买卖成交，惟区内的工厦数量不多，成交仅集中个别工厦身上，市场上最新成交为油塘工业大厦第1座低层B室，面积约4,500平方呎，成交价约3,888万元，平均呎价约8,640元，另，油塘工业大厦第3座低层A室，面积约5,327平方呎，以每平方呎约3,304元沽出，造价约1,760万元。

(经济日报)

文辉道9及11号地下周五起招标 最高估值75亿

山顶文辉道2、4、6、8号地皮早前由九仓 (0004) 以120亿元、每方呎楼面地价46,272元投得后，地政总署刚公布，推出文辉道9及11号地皮，紧接于2021年1月8日 (下周五) 起招标，并于2月5日截标。项目可建144969方呎，料可提供135个单位。综合业界人士意见，项目估值约67.8至75.4亿元，每方呎楼面地价约4.68万至5.2万元。

(明报)

Government rents five floors of One Hennessy in Wan Chai

The Hong Kong government had rented five floors with a total floor area of about 60,000 square feet in Chinachem Group's Grade A commercial building One Hennessy, the Sing Tao Daily, The Standard's sister newspaper, reported.

Donald Choi Wun-hing, executive director and chief executive at Chinachem Group, confirmed the lease but would not disclose the rental price. He said it was at market rates.

This comes two years after the Chinese co-working space operator Kr Space forfeited its deposit for leasing seven floors in May 2018.

The complex is across from the police headquarters.

The police would not comment on whether the space is for its use.

The developer said that one floor remains for rent after the leasing deal.

(The Standard)

For more information of Office for Lease in One Hennessy please visit: Office for Lease in One Hennessy

For more information of Grade A Office for Lease in Wan Chai please visit: Grade A Office for Lease in Wan Chai

Luxury homes set for Kwu Tung

Crystal Properties Development has applied to build more than 500 units on a site in Kwu Tung, where the government will put up another site for sale in the coming three months.

The site covers a total area of 165,861 square feet.

The southern part of the plot, which has a gross floor area of approximately 218,195 sq ft, will accommodate 478 units.

The northern part, which has a gross floor area of 102,442 sq ft, can provide 49 houses.

The government will also offer for tender a commercial site in Causeway Bay with a gross floor area of 1.07 million square feet, as well as three residential plots, to accommodate 2,240 units in total during the first quarter of next year.

The three residential sites are Kai Tak area 4E site 2, one in Fan Ling's Kwu Tung in New Territories and one comprising 9 and 11 Mansfield Road on The Peak.

A surveyor values the Kwu Tung North site, which covers a total area of 200,210 sq ft with a gross floor area of 1.2 million sq ft, at HK$6 billion, or HK$5,000 per buildable sq ft.

Kai Tak area 4E site 2, which sits on the runway of the former airport, measures approximately 117,900 square feet.

With a plot ratio of 5.5, the site has a total floor area of approximately 648,450 sq ft.

The site, which borders Metro Park and Kai Tak cruise terminal, has been valued by a surveyor at HK$9.73 billion, or HK$15,000 per buildable sq ft.

The site at 9 and 11 Mansfield Road on The Peak measures 54,541 sq ft, with a gross floor area of 145,652 sq ft.

The Surveyor has valued the site at HK$6.7 billion, or HK$46,000 per buildable sq ft.

Wharf won the tender for the plot occupying 2, 4, 6 and 8 Mansfield Road for HK$12 billion, or HK$46,272 per buildable square foot, last week, with the per square foot price hitting a new high for a residential site in Hong Kong and beating market expectations.

Meanwhile, Choice Investment and Carrianna Group (0126) acquired two old buildings at 223, 223A, 225 & 225A Hai Tan Street for HK$293.1 million via auction in Sham Shui Po.

In the secondary market, a seller will suffer a capital loss of about HK$1.29 million after selling a unit at Conduit 18 in the Mid-Levels for HK$44 million.

(The Standard)

Hang Lung’s HK$2.6 billion purchase of US government’s 37 Shouson Hill Road villas runs into diplomatic snag in US-China spat

Any US consulate plan to rent, purchase, sell its property in Hong Kong requires written consent from the Chinese government, according to a stock exchange filing by the buyer Hang Lung Properties

The Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesman confirmed that US embassies in China must apply to the Chinese government to buy or sell real estate

One of Hong Kong’s biggest real estate transactions of 2020 has been caught in the crossfire of souring US-China diplomatic relations, as the United States consulate failed to get its sale of luxury villas on The Peak recognised by the city’s Land Registry.

The HK$2.6 billion (US$330 million) sale on September 10 of six multi-storey villas at 37 Shouson Hill Road could not be registered by Hong Kong’s Land Registry because of “diplomatic obligations” imposed by the Chinese government on the US consulate, buyer Hang Lung Properties said in an exchange filing on Wednesday. Hang Lung bought it for a 20 per cent discount to the valuation.

The developer said it was informed by the Land Registry on December 21 that the US consulate is not a commercial entity, and the Shouson Hill villas are not an ordinary real estate property. The transaction involved foreign affairs between China and the US and should not be regarded as an ordinary commercial activity, it added.

The US government must submit a written application to the Chinese government via the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the city with at least 60 days’ notice, Hang Lung said, citing an advisory from the Chinese government to the local authority.

“There is a possibility that the transaction will be dropped,” surveyor said. “The letter made it rather clear that the deal is not just a property transaction, but carries a political meaning. Whether it can move forward only depends on the relationship between US and China. If the Chinese government gives its approval, it would represent a gesture of goodwill.”

The snag was “exceptional” and was not made known to, or anticipated by, by either Hang Lung or the tenderer of the property at the time of the sale, Hang Lung said. Still, Hang Lung said that it is “willing and able to proceed” with the deal after “careful consideration,” if the US can comply with the diplomatic obligations.

The Chinese government weighed in on Wednesday afternoon. “US embassies must apply to buy, sell real estate,” said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin during a regular press briefing in Beijing.

Hang Lung’s investors appear to have been lukewarm about the developer’s purchase. Shares of the company have fallen 2.4 per cent since Hang Lung won the tender on September 9, underperforming the 10.3 per cent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. The stock rose by 2.1 per cent to HK$20.15 after today’s statement, the highest in more than a month, and reversing its earlier decline.

Such a setback is “unprecedented, and much should have been done prior to the sale,” a lawyer said. The buyer should consider seriously whether to buy, or request to revise the tender terms to extend the completion date, with the right to termination if written consent is not obtained, the lawyer said.

The US consulate said it complied with the relevant obligations and requirements, while arguing that “diplomatic obligations applicable to the sale of the property are matters between sovereignties and would not affect title of the property,” Hang Lung said, citing a letter yesterday by the US representative office.

The developer and the tenderer are “evaluating and taking legal advice” on appropriate actions, “including exploring the feasibility of extending the time” for completing the deal, Hang Lung said.

“Additional time is needed for the buyer and seller to complete the administrative processes required for closing on the property,” said a spokesperson at the US consulate’s office in Hong Kong, declining to say whether a written application had been sent to the Chinese government for the sale.

Hang Lung’s chairman, the billionaire Ronnie Chan Chi-chung, is a frequent interlocutor on China-related affairs, and does not shy from having verbal jousts with journalists on political issues including Hong Kong’s year-long anti-government protests and the national security law enacted by the Chinese legislature for Hong Kong.

Born in 1949, Chan is also chairman of the board of trustees of the Asia Society in Hong Kong, a non-profit organisation founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller III, with the mission of educating the world about Asia.

Hang Lung has been investing in China since the 1990s, starting with its landmark Plaza 66 and Grand Gateway 66 projects in Shanghai. It has been expanding its presence in secondary cities such as Shenyang, Jinan, Wuxi, Tianjin, Dalian, Kunming, Wuhan and Hangzhou with projects under the “66” brand. The company achieved HK$4.54 billion revenue from property leasing in China, accounting for 53 per cent of the company’s 2019 total revenue.

The US government bought the land at 37 Shouson Hill Road in June 1948 for an unknown price when Hong Kong was still a British colony, according to public records at the Land Registry. Construction on the site was completed in 1983.

Hang Lung, which mainly develops shopping centres and offices, said it will redevelop the Shouson Hill Road site into multiple luxury detached houses by 2024, with plans to invest HK$4 billion in the project.

Details of the tender came to light on May 30 hours after US President Donald Trump announced that he would revoke Hong Kong’s special customs status, in response to the Chinese legislature’s announcement introducing the national security law for the city.

“It’s more about the Chinese government trying to impose hurdles for the US in selling the property,” a scholar said, adding that the latest snag is a watered down version of freezing US assets in Hong Kong. “Perhaps [the Chinese government] sees it as a test of the new [Biden] administration,” using it as a bargaining chip, the scholar said.

The asset sale has to “wait until Biden becomes president and [the US and China]] start their negotiation,” the scholar said, and the saga will last until “their relationship becomes better. The US can still use the asset, but they are not allowed to sell it,” the scholar added.