Tycoon Chen Hongtian’s seized US$86.7 million Frank Gehry-designed Hong Kong flat sells at 38% discount

Chen bought the 5,154 sq ft flat in the Frank Gehry-designed Opus Hong Kong development for HK$387 million (US$49 million) in 2015

The property was one of three assets seized by creditors earlier this year amid what Chen’s company termed a ‘short-term cash flow disruption’

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Swire Properties completed Opus Hong Kong, Frank Gehry’s first residential building in Asia, at 53 Stubbs Road, The Peak, in 2012. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 3:06pm, 1 Sep 2023Updated: 3:08pm, 1 Sep 2023

Receivers for a HK$680 million (US$86.7 million) Mid-Levels flat have sold the property – seized from Chinese tycoon Chen Hongtian for unpaid loans – at a steep discount to the market price.

The 5,154 sq ft flat in Opus Hong Kong, sold at around HK$420 million, 38 per cent below its market valuation, according to sources familiar with the transaction. Details on the buyer have not been disclosed.

Chen and his wife, Chen Yao Li Ni, bought the fifth-floor flat at 53 Stubbs Road for HK$387 million in September 2015, according to official records. In February, the flat was seized by Bank of Communications, which extended a mortgage in August 2019.

The property was one of at least three assets seized by lenders in Hong Kong as of late March from Chen, whose Cheung Kei Group owns offices, hotels and finance firms.

Chen Hongtian, chairman of Cheung Kei Group, pictured in Shenzhen in November 2016. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

The receivers put the flat up for sale by tender in May, and the tender closed on August 8, according to Savills, which had been appointed the sole agent for the deal.

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