Oliver's Twist | The HK$470 million Hong Kong apartment that just won't sell
It's Hong Kong's most expensive apartment - but it has been withdrawn from sale after bids fell short of the reserve price
It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. If you have trouble finding a buyer for the most expensive apartment ever listed in Hong Kong (on a square foot basis), best not worry, just hang on. One will eventually come along - probably from the mainland. Just give it some time.
Or at least that’s how Swire Properties’ management likely sized up the situation back in December when they decided to withdraw from sale an upper floor unit of its luxury Opus apartment tower after bids fell short of its HK$470 million reserve price. The tower, a marvel of fluid lines by architect Frank Gehry, offers some stunning views from its perch up on the peak.
Its price, however, is enough to make even billionaires cringe. Consider that media mogul Rupert Murdoch in February paid US$57.25 million for a New York apartment following his split from Wendy Deng. Murdoch’s new bachelor pad spans 10,000 square feet spread over the top four floors of a 60-storey tower on Manhattan’s East 23rd street. The 11th floor unit that went on tender at the Opus is 5,400 sq ft.
It’s a prime asset, we’re not so concerned about when we sell it
For another point of reference, consider that Swire Properties’ net profit for the recently-ended financial year was HK$6.348 billion. At asking price, that single Opus unit is equivalent to 7.4% of the group’s profit.
Swire Properties Chief Executive Martin Cubbon said he was happy to hold the apartment as finished inventory. He indicated that it could be rented out, as the company has done with other units that it owns in the building. Seven of 12 units in the development are tenanted.
“It’s a prime asset, we’re not so concerned about when we sell it,” Cubbon said recently. He acknowledged there had been bids by the December 12 deadline, but that they “weren’t quite enough” to trigger a sale.
Sales at the development just a few months earlier had been more successful. A ninth-floor apartment sold for HK$455 million in October, setting a record at the time as the most expensive in Asia on a per square foot basis.
Still, one has to wonder whether there’s a sense of regret now settling in among senior Swire management that they should have been more aggressive in liquidating inventory when they had the chance.