Ming Pao reporter
CINEMA CITY VICTORIA, which previously rented the Lesheng Building on Sugar Street in Causeway Bay, announced its closure in February this year. Recently, there have been news in the market that the owners will dismantle the shops and rent them out. It is reported that CINEMA CITY rents the ground floor and part of the first floor, with a total area of more than 14,000 square feet. The monthly rent in 2017 was regarding 2 million yuan. The asking rent is regarding 233,000 yuan, and the square foot rent is regarding 35 yuan; another shop includes a ground floor of 3,738 square feet and a 3,604-square-foot first floor with a total area of 7,342 square feet. The monthly asking rent is 230,000 yuan, and the square foot rent is as low as 31 yuan. In other words, following the above-mentioned properties are “one-for-two”, the total monthly rental price is only regarding 463,000 yuan, which is 1.537 million yuan or 77% compared to the monthly rent of 2 million yuan before CINEMA CITY VICTORIA left the site.
Roxy Building, located at the junction of Yee Wo Street and Sugar Street, is not a first-line location in Causeway Bay, but is facing the shops in Victoria Park. The most glorious era was when NEWAY CEO rented the ground floor to the third floor with a total of 4 floors, involving 70,000 square feet of floor space. At that time, it was a hot spot in Hong Kong Island, but then the karaoke industry declined. NEWAY CEO also abandoned the rent of the ground floor and the first floor, leaving only the second and third floors. By 2020, the owner will file a claim with NEWAY CEO for rent. , air-conditioning fees and billboard fees over 19.068 million yuan. It is reported that the above-mentioned 2nd and 3rd floors rented by the NEWAY CEO are also accepted by the owner of the building. The lease is regarding 28 yuan per square foot.
Former Victoria’s Secret giant shop to be demolished for lease
In fact, the new crown epidemic has hit the retail industry hard, and the rent of shops has been plunged into water. There is no sign of stopping the decline so far. Some owners have given up their attention to giant shops and dismantled them in order to increase the chances of leasing. In addition to the above-mentioned shops, Jinghua Center, which was once rented by Forever 21 with a monthly rent of 13.78 million yuan and became the most expensive shop in Hong Kong, has a huge store of more than 50,000 square feet. After it was abandoned by Victoria’s Secret in 2020 (the monthly rent was 7 million yuan at that time) , The shop is still under construction. It is reported that the owner is asking regarding 8 million yuan for rent, but the owner also understands that it is difficult for a tenant to rent the entire floor in the current market. Therefore, according to the agent, the owner also accepts the initiative of well-known brands to negotiate. Part of the floor is rented. As for the number of shops and the size of the shops, the two parties need to negotiate.
The former Esprit shop used to rent a pop-up store
In addition, Chen Hsong Group (0057) or related parties hold a giant shop of nearly 20,000 square feet in the Central Eternal Commercial Building on Queen’s Road in Central. In the past, it was rented by the clothing chain Esprit for a monthly rent of 2 million yuan. After the sale, it was rented to the pop-up store in the form of short-term rental in November of the same year. Recently, the owner has made new moves and plans to dismantle the store for rent. According to market sources, many international brands have withdrawn from the Hong Kong market due to the repeated epidemics, or reduced the rental space, so the owner decided to dismantle the shop in order to win the long-term rental retail business. It is reported that the pop-up store has left in February this year, and the owner immediately studied the dismantling of the shop, and the dismantling project is expected to be completed in the second half of the year at the earliest.
