Developer Hip Shing Hong turns commercial blocks into small offices
Developer Hip Shing Hong refurbishes commercial blocks to cater for entrepreneurs
Midsize developer Hip Shing Hong has invested more than HK$110 million to turn four commercial buildings into small furnished offices to maximise rental income.
Under the brand "Office Plus", the privately run developer will offer about 250 offices for lease by the end of this year for small companies, at monthly rents ranging from HK$9,000 to HK$55,000.
"These properties are designed for small and medium-sized enterprises and new entrepreneurs who have small teams who may be short of capital and in a hurry to open a new office," said company managing director David Fong Man-hung.
"It may take a least a month and-a-half from finding an agent, renovating a property and moving in. But renting one of our premises may take only one day."
Fong said Hip Shing Hong planned to turn about 80 per cent of the floor areas in four wholly-owned commercial buildings into offices, sized from two-man workstations to 18-person offices. The offices will offer a total floor area of about 165,000 sq ft.
The monthly rent for an office in newly renovated New Victory House in Sheung Wan ranged from HK$35 to HK$37 per sq ft on average, he said, compared with rents of between HK$20 and HK$23 per sq ft in the same neighbourhood.
