Hong Kong’s prime office market is still a lot more expensive than Midtown Manhattan’s — by a whopping 66 percent.
Office space in Hong Kong’s Central district costs $323 per square foot on average, a number that includes taxes and service expenses in addition rent, according to brokerage JLL. That makes it the most expensive office market in the world, and by a wide margin.
Midtown Manhattan came in second at $194 a square foot, barely ahead of West London at $193 per square foot.
Meanwhile, Cushman & Wakefield released a report stating that a desk in Hong Kong prime office space costs $27,432 per month on average.
“For the same cost of accommodating 100 staff in a Hong Kong office, 300 can be accommodated in Toronto, 500 in Madrid and 900 in Mumbai,” the report said.
The report noted that if tenants look outside Central Hong Kong, rents are cheaper by as much as 64 percent.
Last month, Ck Asset holdings said it would sell a majority stake in its 73-story office tower for $5.14 billion, a record. Earlier this year, Henderson Land Development paid $6,397 a square foot for a commercial site in the heart of Central Hong Kong.
[Reuters] — Konrad Putzier