Henderson has landed the first big tenant for Site 3 (Image: HLD)

Nearly four years after paying a record HK$50.8 billion (then $6.5 billion) for a waterfront site in Hong Kong’s Central district, Henderson Land Development has signed what it describes as the biggest lease deal in decades in the city’s traditional business hub.

Manhattan-based Jane Street, which is currently based in Hongkong Land’s Chater House in Central, will take six floors of office space in Henderson’s Site 3 project, according to an announcement late Friday by the developer. 

In an internal announcement seen by Mingtiandi, Henderson vice chairman Colin Lam said, “The property was booked by an international tenant nearly two years before completion, demonstrating the project’s appeal.”

The quantitative trading firm will take possession of 223,437 square feet (20,758 square metres) in the waterfront project once it is completed in 2027, with Henderson indicating face rents of HK$137 per square foot per month for the property. 

By committing early to a large space in a Hong Kong market where rents have dropped for 36 consecutive months, according to JLL, Jane Street is likely to have secured a deep discount to face rents. Average grade A office rents in the Greater Central area averaged HK$77.2 per square foot per month at the end of the first quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Getting Closer to the Water 

Jane Street will be moving about 500 metres closer to Victoria Harbour in its new space, which it has agreed to occupy for five years, with an option to renew for another four years at prevailing rents at that time, according to Henderson.

Henderson Land vice chairman Colin Lam

The lease accounts for 70 percent of the office and ancillary space in phase one of the Site 3 project, Henderson said in the announcement. The 1.6 million square foot project is slated for about 

923,000 square feet of retail and 691,000 square feet of office space, according to plans approved by the government in 2023. 

At the time that it won the government tender for the Site 3 project in 2021 Henderson Land said that “The investment is expected to create not only one of Hong Kong’s most iconic landmarks but also a social destination dedicated to public enjoyment along the harbourfront promenade.”

Site 3 connects to Hong Kong’s famed Star Ferry Pier and sits adjacent to the IFC complex which Henderson developed jointly with Sun Hung Kai Properties. 

Jane Street is committed to its new location as grade A office vacancy in Central climbed to 11.7 percent at the end of April from 11.5 percent a month earlier as tenants relocate or consolidate their offices, according to JLL.

Hongkong Land, which owns Jane Street’s current home in Chater House, said in a results statement last month that physical vacancy in its Central office portfolio rose 1 percentage point from the end of last year to 31 March to reach 8.3 percent.