HK - Commercial Properties & REITs

[winston]

Top global luxury brands, including Burberry Group Plc and Kering's Gucci, intend to negotiate lower store rents as business in Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland continues to drop.

Prada's Finance Director Jean-Jacques Guiony said the group will attempt to renegotiate rental arrangements with landlords in view of the weakening sales in Hong Kong.

Source: THE STANDARD

[behappyalways]

gucci-spars-with-hong-kong-landlords-as-chinese-demand-slumps
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... and-slumps

[winston]

Hong Kong Retail Rents May Fall 20% This Year

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/20 ... -year-chan

[winston]

Shutdowns, rent cuts as retail blues bite

Several luxury goods and jewelry retailers along with sellers of less upmarket items are scaling back in Hong Kong as fewer tourist arrivals eat into profits. Those who remain are winning steep rental cuts from landlords.

Shoe-seller Belle International (1880) closed the last of the seven Belle outlets in Hong Kong on Monday, Ming Pao reported, citing slim business.

Meanwhile, Emperor Watch & Jewellery (0887) has decided to give up in October its store on the ground floor of the Emperor Watch & Jewellery Centre on Russell Street, Causeway Bay, which boasts some of the world's highest retail rents. The site will be leased to local cosmetic chain Bonjour (0653) at a steep 42 percent discount.

The rent for the 3,068-square-foot space will plunge to HK$1.6 million a month from the current HK$2.76 million.

The government revealed on Monday that mainland visitor numbers slumped 9.8 percent in July from a year back.

Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) leasing manager Henry Lam Ka-keung said sales value of jewels and watches at the developer's malls have this year dived 7-8 percent from a year back.

The developer opened the first phase of its Yuen Long retail complex Yoho Mall yesterday, and Lam said as the shopping arcades target local consumers, there is only mild impact on business.

Source: The Standard HK

[behappyalways]

Hong Kong shoe shops hit by rent hike
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34344070

[winston]

Rent for Ground-Floor Store on Russell Street Reduced by 50%

The ground-floor store at 18 Russell Street, Causeway covers an area of approximately 1,000 sq. ft. and it was currently leased by a watch store with a monthly rent of $1.75 million, Ming Pao said.

The tenancy is going to expire in mid-October and VEEKO INT'L (01173.HK)'s make-up brand Colourmix is going to be the new lessee with a monthly rent of almost $1 million.

The reduction was more than 50%.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

[winston]

High street rents fall

Retail rents in core locations have seen their largest quarterly decline since 1998, according to CBRE.

Of all prime shopping areas, Causeway Bay took the hardest hit, with rents falling 11 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months.

Rents in Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok slid by 9.2 percent, 7 percent and 7.6 percent respectively.

Many luxury retail operators have started to move out from Tier 1 streets to be replaced by mid-range retailers.

Several watch and jewelry retailers have been replaced by lingerie shops and sportswear sellers.

CBRE expects the trend to continue as non-luxury retailers become the main driver of local retail leasing demand.

"Instead of a bounce-up in a few months, this round of decline will be long term." warned DBS economist Lily Lo Ming-lee.

"As China's economic slowdown continues, spending patterns of mainlanders have changed, and a strong local currency will remain for a while. The bank predicts a 15 percent drop in rents before the end of the year."

Source: The Standard

[behappyalways]

尖沙嘴上季舖租跌幅　少於銅鑼灣中環
下一波劈租　廣東道高危
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/financees ... 4/19332185

[winston]

SAR office rents seen rising further

Hong Kong office rents remain the world's most expensive and the trend is expected to continue in the next few years even after mainland firms show signs of slowing their pace of expansion, Knight Frank said yesterday.

Prime rent in high-rise office buildings grew 1.9 percent to US$255.50 (HK$1,992.90) per square foot in the first half from a year back, a report by the real estate group said. New York and Tokyo are ranked second and third at US$153 and US$125 psf, respectively.

The SAR clinched the top rank as the vacancy rate in Central is at a nearly record low at a mere 1.4 percent. Overall vacancy rate in the SAR also dipped to 1.7 percent last month, significantly lower compared to over 5 percent in other major cities such as London and Manhattan, said Thomas Lam Ho-man, head of valuation and consultancy.

Commercial agency director Nelson Lam Wu-cheung noted mainland companies were less active in the past few weeks in looking for office spaces amid China's economic slowdown and sluggish stock market.

Still, he expects Chinese firms to take up nearly half of new leases in Central this year, up from 20 percent last year.

Source: The Standard

[behappyalways]

Hello Kitty, Farewell Rolex as Hong Kong Shoppers Go Downmarket
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... downmarket