The High Court
Central and Admiralty are especially important locations for legal firms, because of the close proximity to the High Court. Central of course remains widely known and respected as the Central Business District (CBD) of Hong Kong. Most of the district’s newly completed Grade A buildings are concentrated here, in addition to the clustering of multinational and global equity firms.
Crucially, Central is also a preferred location for financial and banking institutions, hedge funds, legal firms supporting the financial sector, plus shipping and investment corporations. Whilst Grade A office rents are traditionally the highest in Hong Kong, led by new developments on reclaimed areas such as the International Finance Centre (IFC), the advantages of holding office space here for any firm operating in the legal sector are plain. Networking, prestige and convenience remain unavailable elsewhere to the same degree.
Admiralty is officially a sub-district of Central, lying to the east one MTR stop away. Home to various 5-star hotels, it remains a small district with only a few modern office buildings and a popular shopping mall.
Firms which have an Admiralty office include, Deloitte, Baker & McKenzie, The Carlyle Group and ENN Energy. These respectable, well-known MNCs give a clue to the neighborhood’s standing. Swire Propertiesis the key landlord maintaining much of the property in the area.
In terms of pricing, costs range from 50 to over 100 HKD/sq. ft. In Central, by contrast, rates are lot higher, in some cases pushing HKD 180/sq. ft. in the IFC itself. Companies headquartered in both Admiralty and Central area read as a who’s who of the top global finance firms.
They include Macquarie Group, Jardine Matheson, Hutchison Whampoa, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, HSBC Holdings, Crédit Agricole (Suisse) SA, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China. In addition, Citibank Hong Kong, Hang Seng Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, UBS AG, SFC and Royal Bank of Scotland. all live in the area.
Of late, vacancy rates in non-core central districts have been largely static or decreasing. This may change in 2015, but already the dynamic has been offset in part by larger firms in professions such as law, finance, and banking, who while pursuing back office space in districts far from core central, are also keen to locate their sales and head offices at prestigious addresses.
These larger firms have been responsible for most of the core-central and business districts’ absorption. Central still stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to price per square foot. The key combination of locational prestige, the neighboring law court and the sheer ease of doing business and networking in a tightly knit, high level corporate community still hold strong.
JLL Property, is a commercial property specialist with over 40 years’ experience in the Admiralty office market.