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Hong Kong property
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Hong Kong property rebound to keep Wang On busiest since listing day as Kowloon, Pok Fu Lam, Fortress Hill projects take off: CEO

  • Wang On Properties expects home prices to rebound 5 per cent while rentals climb 8 per cent this year on policy support, lower rates
  • Developer to make first major foray into the hospitality sector by converting Pentahotel in Kowloon into student accommodation

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The Sing Pao Building and car park in Fortress Hill is being redeveloped into commercial and residential units. Photo: Google map
Salina Li
Hong Kong developer Wang On Properties is seeking to step up investment in new projects to stay ahead of an expected upturn in the local market as the city’s government loosened curbs, with borrowing costs projected to decline in the months ahead.
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The firm is making its first major foray into the hospitality sector by converting a hotel property into the city’s biggest student accommodation facility to fill the gap in demand, CEO Nick Tang Ho-hong said in an interview. Along with other developments in hand, the group will be the busiest since its listing eight years ago, he added.

“2024 is the year we will be launching the most new projects since we got listed,” Tang said. “There are many opportunities in Hong Kong now, so we will continue to allocate money back and explore more in primary development.” As interest rates have peaked, “we feel this year would be a good year to continue promoting our projects,” he added.

CEO Nick Tang Ho-hong says Wang On Properties will launch the highest number of new projects since its listing. Photo: Edmond So
CEO Nick Tang Ho-hong says Wang On Properties will launch the highest number of new projects since its listing. Photo: Edmond So

For a start, it will turn the former Pentahotel in Kowloon into 720 rooms in the summer, targeted at student renters, Tang said. Wang On Properties and US investment manager Angelo, Gordon & Co bought the asset from New World Development for HK$2 billion (US$255.8 million) in December 2022.

The government of John Lee Ka-chiu last month scrapped most of the financing curbs, giving the market an immediate boost. The measures installed in the early 2000s to curb excessive speculation were no longer useful since prices slipped during the social unrest in 2019 and through the Covid-19 pandemic last year, according to local officials.

At the same time, Federal Reserve officials have projected three rate cuts in the US this year as inflation slowed from the fastest in more than four decades. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, whose base rate is currently at the highest level since December 2007, follows the Fed decisions in lockstep under the city’s linked exchange rate system.
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Lower interest rates will be a welcome respite for the company and its industry peers, Tang said. The city’s developers have suffered cash outflows as sales cooled after 11 rounds of rate increases from March 2022 to July 2023, sending Hong Kong’s borrowing costs to the highest level since December 2007.

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