The majority owner of 16 & 18 Wood Road, Wanchai, successfully acquired the property under the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance through Savills by public auction today at the reserved price of HK$100 million.
The majority owner of 16 & 18 Wood Road, Wanchai, successfully acquired the property under the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance through Savills by public auction today at the reserved price of HK$100 million. This is the first case of compulsory sale this year.
The subject property is situated between Wood Road and Cross Lane. The site area is approximately 2,505.4 sq.ft. (232.76 sq.m.) and falls within an area zoned “Commercial/Residential”. Currently standing on the site are two blocks of seven storey old style residential building, with the ground floor and basement designated for retail use. \The development was completed around 1956.
The majority owner, a joint venture of Lai Sun Development and AIG Global Real Estate Investment (Asia), was the only party registered to make bids at the auction.
Charles Chan, Managing Director of Savills Valuation and Professional Services, said the gloomy economic outlook following the financial tsunami made developers cautious in acquiring sites and many are taking a wait-and-see attitude. On the other hand, the individual owners who used to demand a higher acquisition price have now softened their attitudes, enabling a greater chance of reaching an agreement between the owners and the developers without the need of applying for compulsory sale. Therefore, he expects that the number of cases of compulsory sale will decrease this year until the market shows signs of a real pick-up before developers become active in site acquisition again.