HONG KONG | Dragon Seed Redevelopment | 29 fl | U/C

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龍子行重建29層商廈 Excerpt
http://paper.wenweipo.com
[2007-01-24]

【本報訊】(記者 梁悅琴)屋宇署去年12月共批出24份建築圖則，其中新世界發展位於中環的龍子行大廈早前落實重建，獲屋宇署批准興建1幢29層高商業大廈，涉及13.22萬平方呎樓面。

龍子行位於中環皇后大道中39號及利園東街20至28號交界，新世界發展於1999年以逾1.36億元向東急百貨購入龍子行大廈，預計於2009年落成。

New World Property will redevelop the Dragon Seed building in Central. A 29-storey commercial building plan has been approved, providing 132k square foot of space.

Location : 39 Queen's Road Central

The developer bought the building in 1999 for 136 million, with expected completion in 2009.


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Grade-A office rents expected to rise 25pc
15 September 2010
SCMP

Limited new supply and strong demand from the financial sector spurred Knight Frank Research to revise up its grade-A office rental growth forecast from 15 to 25 per cent this year.

The agent bumped up its forecast after grade-A office rentals increased last month at the fastest monthly pace since April 2008.

It said the average rent for grade-A offices increased 3.9 per cent last month after 0.3 per cent growth in July. In Central, office rents led the market higher, with a rise of 7.7 per cent. Causeway Bay rents rose 6.3 per cent and the average price in Kowloon East was up 5.9 per cent.

"Considering the stronger-than-expected leasing demand, we have revised our forecast for office rental growth from 15 per cent to 25 per cent this year," Xavier Wong, director and head of research for Greater China at Knight Frank, said.

Rents are expected to rise next year at the marginally less rapid rate of 20 per cent, Wong said, with the completion of a number of office projects in Central. Those redevelopments include the Dragon Seed Building, Luk Hoi Tung Building and Crocodile House redevelopments. Average grade-A office rents were expected to surpass the previous peak of May 2008 by mid-2012, he said.

A number of financial institutions and professional services companies are scrambling for limited space in key areas. The average vacancy rate on Hong Kong Island fell to 3.1 per cent last month, from 3.5 per cent three months earlier.

"Office availability has been particularly tight in Central, where there is an absence of new supply in 2010 and demand from the financial sector has been strong. We have identified 15 office buildings in Central with near-zero vacancy rates as of August," he said.

A number of landlords have responded to the positive market conditions by putting their premises on the market.

Last month, a local investor paid HK$280 million, or HK$10,000 per square foot, for Bowa House in Tsim Sha Tsui, while a whole floor in the Bank of America Tower in Admiralty sold for about HK$236 million, or HK$16,980 per sq ft. And an investor bought a whole floor in the Lippo Centre in Admiralty for HK$195 million, or HK$15,213 per sq ft.

After rebounding 76.1 per cent in the past 18 months, the average grade-A office price in the city last month was only 8.8 per cent lower than the 2008 peak.

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Li Yuen cave-in injures four
25 April 2007
The Standard

Four people were injured Tuesday when a section of the popular Li Yuen East Street in the heart of Central caved in during the lunch-hour rush.

Three of the four are reported to be in a stable condition at Queen Mary Hospital, while the fourth was treated and discharged.

Those still being treated are a 66-year-old vendor surnamed Chan, a man aged 56, and a woman aged 50.

The cave-in occurred shortly after a thunderstorm Tuesday dumped 50 millimeters of rain around the SAR.

The Hong Kong Observatory had earlier raised the yellow rainstorm warning, followed 30 minutes later by the red warning. Schools were closed and children sent home.

The observatory said there were more than 1,200 flashes of lightning during the thunderstorm, which also affected air traffic with several flights to and from the territory delayed by as much as an hour.

The cave-in left an eight-by-four- meter hole in the road, sucking in several stalls by the roadside.

At least four people fell into the four-meter deep hole but they were quickly pulled out by passers-by.

Among those hurt were roadside vendors selling towels, watches and stockings.

About 30 firemen were deployed to the scene to pump water and sewage from the hole.

Station Commander Pang Yat-kwong of the Central Fire Station said clearing the mess was difficult because Li Yuen East Street is narrow.

``Water and sewage is still pouring into the hole and there is a lot of debris scattered around. To make sure no one is trapped, we have to remove everything manually.''

Pang said he would not speculate on what caused the cave-in.

Hong Kong Institute of Engineers president Greg Wong Chak-yan said the incident may be related to the nearby construction work but said it would be unwise to point fingers without a full investigation.

Construction work on the former Dragon Seed Building began last December.

A man surnamed Li who has been manning a roadside stall for more than 20 years said he had never seen anything like it.

He was chatting with a store owner when the ground suddenly opened up and the owner disappeared into the hole.

Mrs Tong, owner of two watch shops, said the road had become uneven of late and she and others had complained about it.

``We made complaints to the Highways Department. They sent some people down and fixed the pavement, but that was all.''

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