长实海韵轩酒店申改建1503伙

疫情下本港酒店业为重灾区之一，部分财团决定将酒店转作住宅发展。长实旗下红磡海韵轩海景酒店向城规会申请全幢改装，以提供约1503个住宅单位及约442个酒店房间，当中酒店房间数目较现时大减约78%。

据城规会文件显示，项目位于红磡红乐道12号，目前属「商业 (3)」地带，申请拟议分层住宅及准许的酒店、商店及服务行业和食肆用途并略为放宽私家车 / 货车公眾停车场的总楼面面积。

住宅总楼面逾80万呎

地盘面积约106994方呎，住宅部分总楼面约802090方呎，非住宅楼面约401756方呎。拟议发展将现时的海韵轩酒店改建成约1503个住宅单位及约442个酒店房间，当中酒店房间数目对比现时的1980个，大幅减少1538个或约78%。

现时该酒店共有3幢物业，是次改建住宅分布于第1座及第2座，而第3座则作酒店用途。据发展计画，在较低楼层则设有零售和餐饮设施。在优化地下至二楼的空间布局以容纳所需的内部运输设施、住宅和酒店大堂、机电设施等后，拟议发展能提供一个约149135方呎的公眾停车场。

酒店房大减约78%

由于所提供的总楼面面积比核准图规定作提供私家车/货车公眾停车场的不少于175453方呎的总楼面面积减少约15%，因此需要略为放宽私家车 / 货车公眾停车场的总楼面面积。

申请人指，拟议发展计画能在短期内提供约1503个住宅单位，与政府增加房屋土地供应的政策相符。而且设独立的出入口、电梯大堂等能够将同一楼宇内的住宅及酒店用途实际分开，并不会构成 协调问题及避免对将来住客造成滋扰。

而且红磡海滨原定旅游发展计画从未实现，申请地点作为尖沙嘴东部酒店中心区的扩展部分的功能已逐渐减弱。该地区有充足酒店房间供应，以应付预期旅游业復甦期间的需求。拟议发展计画不会增加现时建筑物的高度或体积，因此楷梯式的高度和视觉走廊将能保留。

资料显示，上述项目曾在2018年获屋宇署批建两幢29层高的商厦，以及1幢2层高的物业，总楼面约110.73万方呎。

(星岛日报)

Hong Kong’s reopening to revive office market from its longest and deepest slump, but upswing in rents will have to wait

The reopening of Hong Kong’s borders and a stabilising pandemic will act as a catalyst for moribund office market, says Swire Properties’ Don Taylor

Additional office space of 8.2 million sq ft expected in the next two years and record high vacancy rates are likely to push rents lower this year and next, says property consultancy

Demand for office space in Hong Kong will receive a boost from the city opening up to the rest of the world, but the segment still faces significant headwinds in the short to medium-term, according to one of the city’s largest landlords.

“With the gradual reopening of the international borders and the pandemic starting to stabilise, we anticipate that this could prove to be a catalyst for demand,” said Don Taylor, director of office at Swire Properties, noting that this would allow in-person inspections of real estate and also removes some of the uncertainty for international companies with regional offices here.

There is no doubt that, in the short to medium-term, the Hong Kong office market is up against some uncertainty, he added. “Given the current state of the Hong Kong economy, slowing growth in the Chinese mainland, the imbalance between demand and supply in the local office market, as well as the real threat of a global recession, rents are likely to remain under pressure into next year.”

But, given Hong Kong’s growing importance to the future of the Greater Bay Area and as a global financial centre, there will be continued demand for high quality grade A office space, he said.

The city’s economy shrank 1.4 per cent in the second quarter of this year, following a 3.9 per cent contraction in the first three-month period, confirming fears that stringent social-distancing curbs had affected economic activity far more adversely than initially estimated. In August, the government further cut its annual forecast for the city’s economy to between 0.5 per cent growth and 0.5 per cent contraction. It previously estimated growth of 1 to 2 per cent.

Meanwhile, China’s economy has also seen a considerable slowdown, as Beijing clings to a zero-Covid policy that has hobbled business operations across the country. The world’s second-largest economy grew at a slower-than-expected 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, reflecting the toll of wide-ranging lockdowns in the capital Beijing and financial hub Shanghai. The lockdowns hammered economic output and are also likely to put the nation’s 5.5 per cent growth target for this year out of reach.

The additional office space of 8.2 million sq ft expected in the next two years, according to a property consultancy, on top of the already record-high vacancies this year, estimated at 9.6 million sq ft as of March, is tipped to drag rents down by as much as 5 per cent this year and by another 5 to 10 per cent next year.

The current downturn in Hong Kong’s office property market has been described by the agency as its “longest and deepest”.

Demand from mainland Chinese firms accounted for as much as a fifth of leasing transactions in Hong Kong before a property market downturn in 2019. But with China’s borders staying closed, demand from mainland companies is likely to remain soft, agent said.

“In the three years between 2016 and 2018, for instance, mainland Chinese firms leased an average of 750,000 sq ft of grade A office space per annum,” the agent said.

Between March 2019 and March 2022, the real estate footprint of mainland Chinese companies grew by only 35,000 sq ft, according to the consultancy. On the other hand, demand from western firms shrank by between 1.3 million sq ft and 1.4 million sq ft.

Swire Properties is set to launch Two Taikoo Place in Quarry Bay. The 42-storey office tower with a gross floor area of 1 million sq ft is slated for occupancy before the end of the year. Majority of its portfolio tenants, however, are western firms.

“In our Pacific Place portfolio, just under a quarter of our tenant base is from the Chinese mainland,” Taylor said. “That figure for Taikoo Place is significantly lower but growing. We’ve always maintained a diverse and balanced tenant base across our portfolio, both in terms of nationality and the sectors they operate in.”

Despite the prevailing uncertainty and current state of the market, Swire’s core portfolio, which includes both Taikoo Place and Pacific Place, has seen occupancy in the high 90 per cent range, said Taylor.

Two Taikoo Place has so far secured commitment for 50 per cent of its space, he added. Its tenants include Julius Baer, which will take up four floors spanning close to 100,000 sq ft, and two other banks that will lease close to 200,000 sq ft. Other tenants are Amundi, BASF and Boston Consulting Group.

Other new office property supply expected this year includes AIRSIDE in Kai Tak and 98 How Ming Street in Kwun Tong. These will increase new office supply to 5 million sq ft, according to another property consultant.

An agent said that the gradual resumption of international travel will have a positive effect on office leasing activity and demand in the next few months.

“However, record-high vacancies and a supply boom will ensure rents soften further and stay at low levels” in the short-term, the agent added.

(South China Morning Post)

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