Family of Hong Kong’s ‘minibus king’ sells The Center offices at 34% loss in market slump

Ma Ah-muk bought the floors in 2018 from Li Ka-shing’s CK Asset as part of what was then the world’s priciest property transaction

Reading Time:2 minutes

The Center (centre) towers over neighbouring buildings in Central on November 2, 2017. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 7:30am, 13 Feb 2025Updated: 5:05pm, 13 Feb 2025

Hong Kong investors continue to offload property assets at discounts amid high interest rates, and consultants expect more financially stressed owners will be forced into the same position in coming months.

The family of minibus tycoon Ma Ah-muk is selling the 45th and 27th floors of The Center, a 73-storey skyscraper in Hong Kong’s Central business district that was once the most expensive in the world.

The floors have been broken down into 13 smaller units to be sold individually, according to Centaline Commercial, the sole agent. The units range from 1,842 sq ft to 9,565 sq ft. The owner will first offer eight units with an intended price starting from HK$21,800 (US$2,800) per square foot – about 34 per cent below the HK$33,000 Ma paid in 2018.

Ma was part of a consortium that gave The Center its status as the world’s most expensive skyscraper in May of that year, when the city’s wealthiest man, Li Ka-shing, shrewdly sold it at a property-market peak. The group of 10 investors bought 48 floors from Li’s CK Asset for HK$40.2 billion.

Ma’s family owns more than 10 floors of the building, and is also selling the 53rd floor.

The 45th floor was the highest available subdivided floor in Central, a Centaline agent said, and this was the first time the owner agreed to break down floors.

A ground-level view of The Center in Central on October 23, 2019. Photo: Dickson Lee