〈Asian Post, August 12, 2017〉The Peak is home to Hong Kong's priciest real estate - notably the most expensive property in the world in 2016, after tycoon Chen Hongtian spent a reported HK$2.1 billion to acquire 15 Gough Hill Road.
For those not quite in that league, nearby Mid-Levels offers an appealing alternative. It still has status in terms of social creed and, location-wise, is actually even more convenient for Central, and still within striking distance of the famous greenery of The Peak. You simply take the iconic Mid-Levels escalator - in fact, a series of some 20 escalators - to Caine Road, walk through the Hong Kong Botanical Gardens, and Old Peak Road leads to forest-canopied hiking trails from which the best city and harbour views await.
Here it's cooler than on the steamy streets of Central, and office workers may catch a glimpse of their office building among the skyscrapers below.
Whereas, back in colonial days, European settlers regarded The Peak - the highest elevation on Hong Kong Island - as their exclusive domain, Mid-Levels, lacing around the side of the mountain, was an address more affordable for younger professionals with lofty ambitions. It's for them that the world's longest series of escalators was built to ease the commute to Central, and the serviced apartments located in the vicinity to house the city's transitory workforce are among the most sought-after today. For despite its walking-distance proximity to the bustling business and financial hub of Hong Kong, this remains primarily a quiet residential neighbourhood.
Hanlun Habitats is tapping the district's appeal with its portfolio of high-end serviced apartments located exclusively within Mid-Levels.
Of these, Orchid, at 22 Mosque Street, is situated right beside the escalator, with Peach Blossom, also on Mosque Street, located nearby. Lily I and Lily II boast a Robinson Road address.
〈Asian Post, August 12, 2017〉With the property market in Hong Kong scaling new heights every week, estate agents are having a field day showing clients around apartments. Last week, we decided to follow one agent on her appointment rounds over the course of a long day.
It's 8.30 on a Thursday morning, and Andrea Ott is en route from her local gym to a nearby coffee shop. Her pace is measured - you don't want to work up a sweat this early in the morning in Central. And she's not going there to socialise. Shortly after 9am, the first deal of the day is done. A client has signed a tenancy agreement for a flat in SoHo, and this real estate agent is on her way to the next appointment.
Mobile technology has changed the way many of us work, and for Ott, an associate director with OKAY.com, an online real estate platform built around proprietary mobile technology, freedom from a desk - and indeed, from a shopfront presence - means she can pack more into a day.
On this day, her schedule is fairly typical. The first appointment, arranged before the client heads off to work, is a fairly casual affair. "We'd already negotiated the lease and built up a rapport, so meeting in a coffee shop seemed appropriate," Ott explains. The ability to work off-site, with just a smartphone and iPad, is one of the perks of her current employment, says Ott, who is originally from Virginia, US, and has lived in Hong Kong for eight years.
〈Economic Daily, August 11, 2017〉Wah Fu Estate was groundbreaking in its day, but as bulldozers move in, residents say collective memories of their community will live on
Almost four decades ago, when Ko Kang-ching was asked to take over a Shanghai-style hair salon at Wah Fu Estate in Pok Fu Lam, he considered it a great business opportunity because its population was 50,000 and growing.
"Our golden era was from the 1970s to 1980s, when we had more than 50 customers a day and had eight hairdressers here," the 70-year-old businessman said in his shop, which was filled with empty chairs. "Now, we have only four hairdressers."
Ko said he had to downsize his salon seven years ago to save money as fewer people were living in the neighbourhood and his trade was declining.
There were currently 26,000 residents on the estate, according to the Housing Authority.
Completed in 1967, Wah Fu was built for low- income families; it contains 9,100 flats in 18 blocks. Small businesses such as the Shanghai Wah Fu Beauty Parlour made Wah Fu a self-contained community; it was designed as a "new town" with a market, hair salons and a multi-storey car park. This was considered a groundbreaking concept for public housing back in those days.
The estate, known for its "twin-tower" building design, with a central void to improve airflow, was one of the first batch of such buildings in Hong Kong.
But this once innovative scene is about to be relegated to the past. As announced in former chief executive Leung Chun-ying's 2014 policy address, the government will soon redevelop the 50-year-old estate and replace it with new blocks that add 11,900 more flats to the rejuvenated estate, bringing the total number of flats to 21,000 by 2025 at the earliest.
"When it comes to redevelopment, we always think about how many people could be housed in the new space. I hope, apart from that, the humanity side of Wah Fu could also be preserved," said Will Cho, a 28-year-old resident. Cho, a full-time photographer, made a drone video to feature the twin-tower design of Wah Fu in 2016. The video has been viewed more than 195,000 times on Facebook.
〈China Daily, August 10, 2017〉Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTR) on Thursday said it expected earnings from property development in Hong Kong to moderate in the second half of this year.
The company noted a further increase in land supply — from government land sales, the private sector and redevelopment projects — and would monitor the market situation closely to see if they would buy.
Lincoln Leong, chief executive of MTR, said they are doing research to examine opportunities to develop property along their railway lines.
He also apologized for recent delays of service in transport, saying they will put more effort into maintenance.
Profit from Hong Kong property development in the first half of this year amounted to HK$622 million, 184 percent higher than earnings of HK$219 million in the first six months of last year. In the coming six months, MTR plans to tender out the Wong Chuk Hang Station Package Two development.
The Maritime Square Extension is targeted to open by the end of the year. The company said that as of the end of June, the Express Rail Link was 94 percent completed. It should be finished by the third quarter of next year. The Sha Tin to Central Link was 75 percent complete, with the target completion of the East-West Corridor advanced to mid-2019 and the NorthSouth Corridor to be completed in 2021.
Regarding business on the Chinese mainland, MTR also signed a concession agreement for the Hangzhou Metro Line 5, a public-private partnership (PPP) project, and a joint-venture company is planned.
Turning to Hong Kong transport operations, MTR said that in the first half of this year the company carried more than 970 million rail and bus passengers. The heavy rail network ran more than 1 million train trips. Outside Hong Kong, the company serves about 5.8 million passengers daily, higher than the figure for Hong Kong.
〈Business Daily, August 10, 2017〉Developer subdividing upmarket complex intoco-living spaces targeting graduates and jobseekers with rents starting at HK$7,600.
A developer is converting 18 flats in an upmarket complex in one of Hong Kong's most prestigious neighbourhoods into 270 unitsas small as 80 sq ft to rent outas co-living spaces to young graduates and jobseekers.
Eton Properties, owned by the family of Filipino magnate Lucio Tan, will convert Woodland Villas on Shouson Hill Road into single-bedroom flats between 80 and 200 sq ft in size, with all-inclusive monthly rent starting from HK$7,600.
The project will be renamed Mini Ocean Park Station, in a nod to the tourist attraction nearby. "Our research showed that demand for co-living space is on the rise, as Hong Kong's home prices and rents have sky rocketed," Eton marketing manager Cynthia Cheung said.
"It's a new lifestyle experience for young people. We will provide 24-hour security for them, unlike subdivided flats in poorly managed, ageing buildings."
The plan, devised after railway operator MTR Corp opened a station nearby, comes as record residential property prices have kept home ownership beyond the reach of the average jobseeker or graduate.
The plan is actually a shrewd application of mathematics. Before the conversion, Woodland Villas' 1,600 sq ft units were offered for rent at HK$98,000, not including a monthly management fee of HK$8,570.
By subdividing, Eton gets 270 units out of the complex, compared with just 18 before the conversion. The monthly unit price of HK$95 per sq ft is 13 per cent more than for serviced apartments operated by the Four Seasons Hotel in Central.
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