〈Asian Post, June 27, 2020〉Seasoned bankers and real estate investors, honed by past financial markets and health crises, are no match for the calamity brought by the US-China trade war and the coronavirus pandemic.

Phoenix Property Investors, a US$7.7 billion real estate fund, has six months to save itself from potential cascading defaults in two commercial property bets on the mainland after the market cracked, banks trimmed lending and co-investors balked at a restructuring proposal.

Two funds managed by Phoenix and outside co-investors could lose as much as 74 per cent of the equity they pooled to partly finance down payments for Towers A and B at One Financial Street in Shanghai, an office and retail development near the Shanghai railway station.

The transactions, worth almost 4 billion yuan (HK$4.38 billion), hinge on repaying two offshore bridging loans maturing in November used for part of the costs, according to a document seen by the Post. "We cannot refinance," it warned.

Unable to close the transactions, Phoenix considered cutting its losses or finding new buyers for the assets in a proposal last month. Investors balked at the prospect of sinking more capital or offloading the assets at depressed prices, at least according to one stock exchange filing.

〈Asian Post, June 27, 2020〉The Hong Kong government will sell a site along Victoria Harbour to boost market confidence in the coming quarter, it said yesterday.

The 4.76 hectare site, called New Central Harbourfront Site 3, sits between City Hall to the south, the Central Ferry Piers to the north, and the IFC to the west. The site could yield about 1.6 million sq ft in gross floor area.

The highest bid would not necessarily win, the government said. "Money is not our only consideration, but the government will not sell the land at a huge discount. Bids will be weighed 50-50 for design and price," Michael Wong Wai-lun, the city's secretary for development, said.

"Although commercial rents are dropping and office vacancy rates are rising, we cannot leave commercial plots to gather dust - that will damage Hong Kong's competitiveness as an international financial and business centre," Wong added.

"It is the last site that is so strategically located and is so iconic. Its proper design and utilisation is very important to our future economic development."

Hong Kong's economy shrank 8.9 per cent last quarter from a year earlier for its worst three-month period on record, and the city's unemployment rate surged 5.9 per cent in the three months ending May 31, surpassing a 5.5 per cent rise during the global financial crisis in 2009.

〈Business Post, June 26, 2020〉As America threatens HK's exemptions, it owns up to HK$41b in property

The US government owns a property portfolio in Hong Kong estimated at up to HK$41 billion - over 10 times more valuable than the flats and buildings owned by Beijing's representative office.

The crown jewel among the buildings, mostly bought while the city was a British colony, is the US consulate's office at 26 Garden Road, Central, a leasehold plot that was extended in 1999 for 999 years in the world's costliest commercial district.

"It is rare to see such long land leases in Hong Kong after 1997," Lilian Chiang, senior partner at law firm Deacons, said.

Government land sales are for 50-year leasehold terms.

The value of the holdings underscores what is at stake for the United States as President Donald Trump threatens to eliminate special policy exemptions for Hong Kong in retaliation for Beijing's imposition of a national security law in the city.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the proposed law undermined Hong Kong's "autonomy from China", a description that calls for the city to be given the same trade and customs treatment as the mainland. The special treatment for Hong Kong must be preserved despite pressure to change that status, the American Chamber of Commerce said.

〈The Standard, June 25, 2020〉Victoria's Secret has closed its six-story flagship store - the last one remaining - in Hong Kong as business of the American underwear brand comes apart everywhere.

Top models Tyra Banks, Giselle Bundchen, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Candice Swanepoel were among "Victoria's Angels" at one time for a brand built on its sexy lingerie product lines.

But Victoria's Secret has gone sharply downhill. One revealing omen was the suspension last year of its much-ballyhooed televised fashion show.

It had six outlets in Hong Kong during its heyday, but it looked tattered and torn as the last store, in Causeway Bay, closed its doors to end a seven-year glint in Hong Kong.

Globally, the number of stores has gone shrunk from 1,600 to fewer than 850. The flagship store in Hong Kong occupied 51,000 square feet of the Capitol Centre on Jardine's Bazaar opposite Hysan Place. The premises were being rented for HK$7 million a month since September 2017. That was when Victoria's Secret took over from clothing brand Forever 21, which pulled out of Hong Kong.

〈Business Post, June 24, 2020〉Actor and filmmaker Stephen Chow Sing-chi, dubbed Hong Kong's King of Comedy and the owner of 12 Pollock's Path on The Peak, has mortgaged the luxury property for an undisclosed amount from JPMorgan Chase, according to the Land Registry.

The 5,711 sq ft Skyhigh mansion, reachable from Central by a 20-minute winding car ride, is a rare asset that analysts call "diamond-grade".

It sits on the edge of a cliff, where HSBC's Taipan House stood in the 1970s, and comes with a panoramic view of the city's skyline and Victoria Harbour.

Chow has never put the house up on the market, at least according to official records. There is also no evidence he is facing a cash crunch.

He did not reply to messages left for him at Bingo Group, his listed film production company.

JPMorgan also did not reply to a request for comment.

"People say it is at a quite steep position on The Peak," said Louis Ho, principal sales director at Centaline Property Agency. In feng shui, "the owners or buyers need to be very strong [with their fates] to take it".