Hong Kong’s Lingnan University has acquired commercial assets in a residential building in New Territories, joining a number of schools and universities that have snapped up real estate assets amid a slump in values.
The university bought the shopping arcade, ground floor shops and a car park in the T-Plus residential tower for about HK$120 million (US$15.3 million), a 40 per cent discount to the asking price of HK$200 million, according to agents. The asset has a total gross area of 39,228 sq ft.
Lingnan planned to convert the shopping arcade and the shops into classrooms, while the car parking spaces would be retained, according to an agent familiar with the deal.
“The property is close to the school’s campus in Tuen Mun,” the agent said. “We are representing other educational institutions that are looking for property, especially as prices have dropped a lot.”
A protracted slump in the office and retail leasing segments weighed on the values of Hong Kong’s commercial real estate. Office property prices were 43 per cent lower in April compared with their peak in June 2019, according to government data. Retail property prices, meanwhile, had fallen 35 per cent since May 2019.
The value of commercial property was set to drop by a further 5 to 10 per cent this year, according to JLL.
