• New sites in Hong Kong
• Developments in Hong Kong, China and Singapore
• Target:  9,500 units in 2010
• CKI cement in Guangzhou

The company also owns a large portfolio of commercial, residential and industrial premises in Hong Kong, and is a major landlord of the Central District.   In recent years, the group has expanded its operations and in Singapore, Cheung Kong's property portfolio includes several significant investments including Suntec City and Reit.

• 400 units sold on the weekend
• CK caps Homes Per Buyer at new HK project

Cheung Kong is top bidder for Upper Thomson Rd condo plot

The top bidder for the 99-year condo site on Upper Thomson Road on Thursday has been revealed as a unit of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Holdings.

This was confirmed yesterday by Raymond Chui, general manager of the group's Singapore-based unit Property Enterprises Development.

Cheung Kong unit Treasure Well Investments' bid was for $251.3 million or about $533 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) - the highest seen for a private housing site at a state land tender this year.

Mr Chui said the estimated breakeven cost of about $850 to $900 psf forecast by analysts quoted in the media was pretty accurate. 'We'll probably develop around 340 to 350 units,' he added.

Treasure Well's top bid was 21.5 per cent above the next highest offer, which was made by Singapore's Far East Organization.

When asked if Cheung Kong regretted having paid such a wide margin, especially in hindsight as the government announced its H1 2010 land sales programme the next day with substantial supply in the confirmed list, Mr Chui replied: 'We've done our sums. The site is in a very good location and we have confidence in the future of the Singapore property market.'

The Upper Thomson Road site is located opposite the Singapore Island Country Club's Island Golf Course and Lower Peirce Reservoir.

The group will also be developing a 295-unit condo on a 99-year-leasehold site facing West Coast Park and overlooking the sea.

That is likely to be launched next year, possibly in the second quarter, Mr Chui revealed.

The project will comprise fairly regular-sized units. 'Our showflat is not yet ready,' he added.

Cheung Kong clinched the West Coast site at a state tender in March last year, paying $110.44 million or $305 psf ppr.

Interestingly, it also outbid Far East Organization for that site, but with a much narrower winning margin of just 1.4 per cent - 2009 November 7   BUSINESS TIMES

The Legend internal sales reap $5b for Cheung Kong

Cheung Kong (Holdings), a property developer controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, said it has pocketed about HK$5 billion from internal sales of its luxury apartment project The Legend, which analysts estimate represents a profit margin of more than 200 percent.

Cheung Kong said Monday it sold 212 units over a nine-day period to last Sunday, with prices ranging from HK$13,000 to HK$23,000 per square foot.

The three-block development in Tai Hang, near Causeway Bay, has 376 units, with analysts estimating the total development cost at about HK$4,700 psf. Cheung Kong could reap as much as HK$10 billion in sales, compared with the likely development cost of HK$3 billion. This estimated cost consists of a HK$100 million payment to the previous owner of the land, HK$900 million in land premiums to the government and HK$2 billion in construction costs, a property analyst at an investment bank said.

``After 1997, this kind of profit margin is extremely rare,'' he added.

Cheung Kong's Kingswood Villa project in Tin Shui Wai, launched in the early 1990s before the Asian financial crisis halved property values in the city, was sold for HK$5,000 psf, or five times over the development cost of HK$1,000 psf, market watchers said.

Cheung Kong senior sales manager Francis Wong said the company may halt sales at The Legend shortly after the public launch Thursday and keep some units for sale until after the government's policy address in October. It may also keep some units for sale next year.

Although local banks are raising mortgage rates, Wong said prices for luxury flats could rise by a further 10 to 15 percent this year.

Prices of luxury apartments on Hong Kong Island have risen about 20 to 30 percent this year, due to limited new supply.

David Cheung, senior director at property consultant Savills, said that although the HK$3 billion construction cost estimate was ``reasonable,'' whether Cheung Kong could hit HK$10 billion will depend on prices for the remaining units.

He added that ``the really expensive units'' have not yet been released for sale. -  2005 July 5   THE STANDARD    

Cheung Kong (Holdings) is set for a bumper year in property sales after already cashing in more than its HK$12 billion revenue target on the sale of 3,500 units, executive director Justin Chiu said.

Sales revenue to date is almost double the HK$6.21 billion received last year, due to strong sales of Victoria Tower in Tsim Sha Tsui, Banyan Garden in Cheung Sha Wan, and Harbourfront Landmark in Hung Hom.

The blue-chip developer is aiming to boost its property sales further by launching another four projects this year in a bid to capture the improving buyer sentiment, Chiu said.

It will launch the third and final phase of Banyan Garden this week and expects to reap HK$1.8 billion to HK$2 billion from the 760 units.

``It will be a bumper harvest for Cheung Kong this year,'' Chiu said. ``The recent message from the government [to stabilise the property market] is a strong shot in the arm ... the administration has shown its determination. After all, property market still dominates a large part of the local economy.'' He said buyer confidence had been growing recently. ``We don't foresee property prices surging rapidly in the near future but expect them to improve steadily.'' Sales manager Francis Wong said Cheung Kong had pocketed HK$3 billion from the sale of 1,650 of the 1,700 units in the last phase of Banyan Garden.

He said pricing of the final phase could be up to 5 per cent higher that the average of HK$3,100 per sq ft for the first two phases.

The other three projects in the pipeline are the luxury One Beacon Hill development in Kowloon Tong, the Metropolis Suite in Hung Hom and Queen's Terrace in Sheung Wan.

Chiu said the luxury property market had picked up steam in recently months. ``There is a recent trend that the luxury market in Kowloon is overtaking Hong Kong Island in terms of volume of transactions,'' he said.

Sales of residential projects over the weekend were not strong, with only 61 units from six projects being sold, agents said. They said many potential buyers were awaiting a detailed statement by government on measures to prop up property prices.   - 2002 October 27   Hong Kong Standard     

• HUNG HOM
• AP LEI CHAU
• SINGAPORE

HUNG HOM           
Harbourfront to offer serviced apartments
Cheung Kong (Holdings) intends to turn three storeys of its Harbourfront Landmark development in Hung Hom into serviced apartments.

The floors, in the main building of the three-tower project, were supposed to be developed into a shopping plaza under the original plan.

``Earlier, we heard the developer intended to turn the shopping area into offices for Hutchison Whampoa staff,'' a source said. ``The latest plan is for serviced apartments.''

Harbourfront Landmark, a joint venture with Hutchison Whampoa, has 324 units, ranging from 1,903 square feet to 2,500 sq ft, in three 72-storey towers.

The source expressed reservation over reports claiming that Cheung Kong planned to turn the shopping area into a hotel - an extension of its nearby Harbour Plaza Hotel.

``There are no facilities at Harbourfront Landmark to support clients' accommodation if they take the hotel option,'' the source said.

Cheung Kong could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The developer is required to seek Town Planning Board approval if it wants to change from residential use to serviced apartments or hotel use.

Luxury flats at the 233-metre development, the tallest residential building in the world, have attracted interest from mainland tycoons and investors. About 15 per cent of some 120 units have been sold so far.

Tower Three, which comprises 102 apartments of either 1,891 sq ft or 2,156 sq ft with three or four bedrooms, is now available for lease.

About 20 units in Tower One and Tower Two are also available for rent at about HK$30 psf.

Separately, Cheung Kong senior sales manager Joseph Lau yesterday estimated the company would reap HK$2 billion from the sale of all 662 serviced apartment units at its Metropolis project. He said the company planned to launch standard units for sale at around HK$4,500 psf.   -   8 January 2003   Hong Kong Standard

Cheung Kong (Holdings) is kicking off its aggressive leasing campaign by giving away a HK$304,000 Mercedes-Benz sedan to three-year term tenants of its Laguna Verde apartments in Hunghom.

However, property agents said the effective rent charged by Cheung Kong was still slightly higher than the secondary market, despite the various sweeteners given to tenants.

Cheung Kong executive director Justin Chiu Kwok-hung said average rents at Laguna would be about HK$30 per square foot a month but some presents and coupons would be given to tenants.

He said the developer would release 20 units at Tower 16 of Laguna Verde phase four, which was almost complete, for lease.

It has reserved 100 large units in phase four and 120 units in phase five for lease. More than 100 units from the neighbouring Harbourfront Landmark will also be reserved for lease.

For the first 20 Laguna Verde units, tenants will receive a Mercedes C200K sedan if they rent a unit for between HK$46,000 and HK$50,000 per month for three years. If units are rented at HK$42,500 to HK$46,000 for one year, they will receive an 18-carat gold lady's watch worth HK$99,500. Flats at HK$37,700 to HK$40,700 on a one-year lease will entitle tenants to a HK$26,000 Bang & Olufsen television and stereo system.

Coupons worth HK$3,300 will be available for use in ParknShop stores, restaurants at Harbour Plaza Hotel in Hunghom, newspaper subscription and laundry services. Cheung Kong also will be responsible for expenses such as water, electricity and rates.

Centaline Property Agency manager Ken Lee said Laguna Verde apartments were rented at HK$23 to HK$24 per square feet in the secondary market.

After stripping the value of presents, coupons and other benefits, he estimated the net rent charged by Cheung Kong was about HK$25 to HK$26 per square feet, slightly higher than second-hand rentals, he said.

However, Mr Lee said the package would be attractive to corporate clients, who under the scheme need not handle various expenses.      - 2001 December 13 South China Morning Post        

The three-year guarantee reflects intense competition in a sluggish market.

It is the latest of a series of increasingly generous incentive offers aimed at speeding up sales after several months of listless trade.

Other incentives include immediate cash rebates, mortgage subsidies and low interest rate loans.

Cheung Kong executive director Justin Chiu Kwok-hung said the buy-back scheme demonstrated the developer's confidence in the project and its price prospects.

Last year, Henderson Land Development offered a one-year buy-back scheme for Parkland Villa in Tuen Mun, while Cheung Kong offered a seven-month guarantee for Monte Vista in Ma On Shan.

Analysts said the latest incentive was an attempt to drum up buyer confidence and boost the moribund property market.

There are fears of further discount sales as developers step up marketing for their large backlogs of flats.

Cheung Kong is offering Laguna Verde buyers a cash-rebate scheme of up to 17 per cent of their property's price to be refunded in three years. Buyers taking this option are not eligible for the buy-back scheme and need to pay a 5 per cent price premium.

The buy-back and rebate packages are available for the last 175 units for sale at Laguna Verde.

Cheung Kong has retained more than 100 units for lease. It will release 23 units at an average price of HK$4,245 per square foot on a first-come, first-served basis on Saturday.

Under the buy-back scheme, buyers need a 30 per cent down-payment but Cheung Kong will be responsible for the monthly installments of the 70 per cent bank mortgage for the first three years.

Under the cash-rebate scheme, Cheung Kong will rebate cash to buyers every month at an annual rate of 5.65 per cent of the purchase price for the first three years.

Mr Chiu said the buy-back scheme could be used only for quality projects with the potential for capital appreciation. As the market had stabalised, he said Cheung Kong was very likely to extend this scheme to other projects.

Mr Chiu said it had raised by 3 per cent to 5 per cent the prices of flats at Tower Five of its Caribbean Coast project in Tung Chung.

Most of the 2,100 units at Laguna Verde phases four and five have been sold for about HK$6 billion.

At Caribbean Coast, 952 units have been sold since its recent launch with sales revenue of HK$2.06 billion, according to the developer.

Fortune Realty managing director James Tin Kwok-keung said Cheung Kong's packages were aimed at keeping property prices stable and boosting confidence.

The rebate scheme would mean an effective 10 per cent price cut, which was in line with the downturn for middle-end properties after the terrorist attacks on the United States, he said.

Today Sino Land will offer Horizon Place in Kwai Chung in a public sale. Tomorrow New World Development and Henderson Land will announce the sale of Sereno Verde in Yuen Long, while Sun Hung Kai Properties is preparing the release of Park Central in Tseung Kwan O.     - SOuth China Morning Post                 

Cheung Kong (Holdings) has taken significant strategic steps in expanding its property empire in Hunghom after clinching a large commercial site at yesterday's Government auction.

Analysts said the Hunghom site could pave the way for a joint development or possible links with a neighbouring commercial lot on the waterfront bought by Sino China Enterprises in August.

Sino China is believed to be linked to Li Ka-shing's property giant.

Cheung Kong made no mention about a possible combination of the two sites and deputy chairman Victor Li Tzar-kuoi said it still had legal matters to settle with Sino China regarding Cheung Kong's involvement in the previous site.

The two sites, sitting on reclaimed land in Hunghom Bay, were widely seen to fit in with Cheung Kong's business strategy of expanding its presence in the district.

Insignia Brooke consultant Nicholas Brooke said: "Cheung Kong has clearly made the area their territory. It has put a stamp on Hunghom."

While the prevailing unfavourable market conditions and the significant development costs had affected confidence, Mr Brooke said Cheung Kong's acquisition would prove to be a good investment in the long term.

The site auctioned yesterday is north of the waterfront site sold in August and east of The Metropolis commercial complex - a joint venture between Cheung Kong, its associate Hutchison Whampoa and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp.

Analysts said the two sites, combined with The Metropolis, could create a commercial property portfolio of 3.84 million square feet near Hunghom Station - comparable to Wharf (Holdings') Harbour City complex in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The Metropolis phase one, just completed, comprises a 700-room hotel, a 15-storey office tower, 360,000 sq ft of retail space and 200 parking spaces - totalling 1.04 million sq ft. Phase two will have two towers of serviced apartments with 377,000 sq ft to be finished by the first half of next year.

Hampton Victoria Properties director Simon Chow said the Hunghom site auctioned yesterday was strategically important to Cheung Kong because it would be easier to link this site by footbridge or tunnel to The Metropolis than linking The Metropolis directly with the waterfront site bought by Sino China.

He said the waterfront site was suitable for the development of a large-scale shopping centre which required more car-parking facilities than the site's own provision.

The site sold yesterday with a provision of a 175,453 sq ft public car park which would help provide sufficient car-parking spaces as a complementary facility, he said.

Cheung Kong has been in talks with the railway company to buy out its stake in The Metropolis. But Mr Brooke suggested it might not be a good time for the railway company to sell its stake in view of subdued land prices.

The acquisitions come amid a new round of expansion by Cheung Kong and Hutchison in Hunghom where they have built up a strong property presence since early 1980s.

Hutchison built the 88-block Whampoa Garden housing development where it still owns 1.7 million sq ft of shopping space. Cheung Kong is building the 25-block Laguna Verde residential project, a joint venture with CLP Holdings.

Hutchison owns the Harbour-front twin-tower office complex and neighbouring Harbour Plaza Hong Kong hotel in the district.

Cheung Kong and Hutchison are jointly building the 324-unit Harbourfront Landmark residential development, which rises to about 70 storeys, on a site they bought for HK$6.06 billion at auction in 1997.

Cheung Kong also reached agreement four years ago with the railway company to build a 88-storey hotel above the railway tracks in Hunghom Station.

However, the project was cancelled.   - South China Morning Post

It is the electricity provider's second attempt to change the land use of the site.

Previously it intended to change the land and its neighbouring electricity transformer centre to residential use but withdrew the plan amid pressure from residents.

The new proposal is to convert the 68,029 square feet site into an 850-room hotel development.

It could provide a total floor area of 635,087 sq ft with a plot ratio of 9.3 times. The Town Planning Board is expected to discuss the proposal within two months.

The earlier proposal was for two 60-storey residential towers with more than 900 flats.   - South China Morning Post

Cheung Kong (Holdings) is in final discussions with a United States investment fund to sell about one-third of its banner residential project Costa del Sol in Singapore, according to executive director Justin Chiu Kwok-hung.

In anticipation of a better Singapore property market this year, Mr Chiu said Cheung Kong could look for opportunities to expand its land bank there. It now owns two residential projects and one commercial project - all due to be completed within the next few years.

 Mr Chiu said Singapore, whose legal structure and flow of information was similar to Hong Kong, offered an attractive opportunity for the group to expand overseas.

"It is a good opportunity for us to look for some more investments in Singapore now. The market is showing signs of stability after a drastic fall - a perfect time for us to add to our land banks," Mr Chiu said.

He said Cheung Kong, which focuses on developing high-end property projects, was looking at several residential projects, mainly redevelopments.

Cairnhill Crest, a 248-flat project, was the first redevelopment in Singapore in which Cheung Kong and associate Hutchison Whampoa were involved. The 50-50 consortium acquired two nearby plots between 1998 and 1999, and applied for a higher plot ratio.

Annie Loke May Ann, general manager of Property Enterprises Development, a property management company for Cheung Kong in Singapore, said Cairnhill Crest had a land cost of S$370 million (about HK$1.57 billion) and was due to be completed in 2004.

The largest residential project for Cheung Kong is Costa Del Sol, a 906-flat development that is about one-third pre-sold.

Mr Chiu said Cheung Kong was preparing legal documents to sell another one-third of this project to an institutional fund house. The potential buyer was willing to offer a higher-than-market selling price for two blocks comprising about 300 units in Costa Del Sol.

The average sale price of Costa Del Sol is S$600 to S$1,000 per square foot. The sale would probably be concluded in the first half this year.

Costa Del Sol was the first project Cheung Kong won in an auction in 1997. Chairman Li Ka-shing and Cheung Kong jointly paid S$682 million to secure the site for development. Cheung Kong now owns a 76 per cent interest in Costa Del Sol, with Hutchison owning the remainder.

Mr Chiu said the recent relaxation on buyers' down-payments by the Singapore Government had helped to stimulate the housing market, particularly public housing, which accounts for 80 per cent of the residential market. Cheung Kong was among parties that had asked the Government to adopt a flexible payment scheme.

Homebuyers in Singapore can pay a down-payment of a minimum of 10 per cent, against the previous 20 per cent, and mortgage 80 per cent of the flat sale price. The additional 10 per cent is financed by property companies, but home-owners need to pay this back before they can secure an 80 per cent mortgage.

Mr Li invested in a consortium to build the Suntec Plaza in Singapore in the 1980s.

Cheung Kong recently won commercial project One Marina Boulevard in partnership with Hongkong Land and Keppel Land. The partnership paid S$462 million, or S$282 per square foot, for an office and shopping mall complex due to be completed in 2005  - 2002 January 23   BUSINESS TIMES