PCCW Begins Marketing Cyberport Residential Units

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong kong

07 January 2003

PCCW Infrastructure chairman Robert Lee Chi-hong thinks that the government will succeed in stabilising the property market with recently announced measures to stimulate demand. But he hopes that the government will act on a proposal to grant residential status to those who invest in Hong Kong.

Speaking prior to the February launch of the first tranche of residential units at PCCW's Cyberport development, Mr Lee said that the company expected good demand for the units:

"There is no other large luxury residential development in Island South and lots of affluent people have been looking for such luxury flats in that area," he said. "Cyberport is also attracting investors, as 30 per cent of property owners in Hong Kong buy flats for investment purposes. Cyberport is a good choice considering its quality, accessibility and lack of competition in the same area." Mr Lee said that the company is considering offers for 100 of the 544 units from investment funds.

Construction of the Cyberport, a joint venture project between the government and PCCW, commenced in May 2000 and it is opening in phases between mid-2002 and the end of 2003. It is serviced by a state-of-the-art telecommunications infrastructure, supported by offices and accommodation of "a world class standard", says the goverment. The environment is campus-like and aims to attract a cluster of companies specialising in areas of information technology, information services and multimedia.

The government said in August that it had leased 80 per cent of about 448,000 square feet of office space in the first phase of the project, but it needs to find more tenants to fill the next 760,000 sq ft. Cyberport's first phase has five tenants - PCCW, Microsoft, General Electric Info Services, Sonera and ESRI - who are paying rentals of between HK$11 and HK$13 per square foot.

When completed by the end of 2003, Cyberport will include 1.1 million sq ft of offices, a 270,000 sq ft commercial centre and a hotel. The residential development will consist of 2,800 luxury flats and will be completed between 2004 and 2007.

PCCW recently flew a group of Hong Kong journalists to Tokyo, apparently hoping to win more favourable coverage for Cyberport by showing off its expertise in Tokyo property management. Accompanied by Mr Lee himself, the party stayed at a hotel in the 31-storey Pacific Century Place Marunouchi Building, which is 55% owned by Pacific Century Group, the private flagship of PCCW chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai.

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