Manulife Financial Corp., Canada?s largest insurer, agreed to buy an office building in Hong Kong from a unit of Wheelock & Co. for HK$4.5 billion (US$580 million).
The Toronto-based insurer will buy the 512,000-square-foot Kowloon East building, scheduled for completion in 2015, from developer Wheelock Properties Ltd. the two companies said in a joint statement. Manulife will use the 21-story building as its Hong Kong headquarters, they said.
Demand for office space outside of the city?s Central business district, which has the world?s second-highest office occupancy cost, is rising as banks and brokerages seek cheaper locations to keep costs low amid slowing corporate finance activities. Monthly rents in Kowloon East rose 4.5% in the first three months of 2013 from the previous quarter to HK$31.71 a square foot, while those in Central gained 0.3% to HK$98.77 a square foot, according to broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
Manulife is buying the West Tower, one of two Wheelock is building in the One Bay East development on a site it bought for HK$3.53 billion, or HK$3,856 per buildable square foot, in a tender in 2011.
Wheelock will keep the East Tower for sale, primarily by whole floors, when the development is closer to completion, Wheelock Properties Managing Director Ricky Wong said in the statement.
CBRE Group Inc. advised on the transaction, according to the statement.
Wheelock & Co. is controlled by the family of Peter Woo, who has an estimated net worth of $8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The Hong Kong-based company is the parent of Wharf Holdings Ltd., owner of two of Hong Kong?s largest shopping malls and the city?s cable TV operator.
Bloomberg.com
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