Covid-19

[holymage]

Hong Kong’s retail landlords might have to cut rents by 50 per cent to attract new tenants amid a worsening outbreak of the novel coronavirus, one of the city’s richest developers said.

“For these few months, you’ll probably see a 50 per cent cut in rents for the retail sector, or even more,” Edwin Leong Siu-hung, founder of property developer Tai Hung Fai Enterprises, said in an interview. His company has more than 1,000 tenancy agreements all over Hong Kong, including offices, serviced flats, warehouses and about 200 shops. With an estimated net worth of US$4.5 billion, he is Hong Kong’s 19th richest man this year according to Forbes.

“Nobody will want to start a business in these few months, and nobody’s going to open a retail outlet … unless the rents are so attractive. Otherwise, you just won’t do it,” he said.

“On a whole year basis, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 20 per cent cut in rents for the retail sector.”

https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/...-landlords