Alibaba Group Holding and Ant Group have agreed to pay HK$7.2 billion (US$925 million) to buy the top floors of a Causeway Bay office tower that Mandarin Oriental International is building on the site of The Excelsior hotel, marking Hong Kong’s largest real estate transactions since 2021.
Alibaba and Ant bought 301,555 sq ft (28,015 square metres) of space, comprising the top 13 floors of the 24-storey building, with parking space for 50 vehicles and signage rights to the tower, according to Mandarin Oriental.
“This landmark property acquisition reflects our confidence in Hong Kong’s economy and operating environment, and we see Hong Kong as an ideal home base for our international expansion”, said Joe Tsai, the chairman of Alibaba, which owns the Post. “Alibaba has always had a strong presence in Hong Kong since our inception in 1999. For a global technology company, the city offers professional talent, robust capital markets, an innovative culture and connectivity to the world.”
The transaction, which prices One Causeway Bay at an average of HK$23,876 per square foot, is the latest in a string of big-ticket property deals that are bringing some relief to Hong Kong’s commercial property glut. An estimated 15 million sq ft of commercial office space lay vacant around the city, more than the combined prime space of the Central business district, according to CBRE.
Three months earlier, the Law Society of Hong Kong had picked up 24,980 sq ft of the entire 26th floor of The Center at 99 Queen’s Road Central – the world’s most expensive tower when it was sold in 2018 – for HK$345 million.
In April, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing agreed to pay HK$6.3 billion – more than HK$42,800 per square foot – for office floors and retail space in One Exchange Square and related assets from Hongkong Land in Central, in one of the city’s largest commercial property transactions in two years.
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