Thought Leadership

The Rediscovering Kowloon West outlines upcoming development areas and infrastructure projects in the west of Hong Kong and identifies opportunities for occupiers and investors.

Two mega projects in Lantau Tomorrow Vision and Northern Metropolis are expected to pave the way for different office clusters around Kowloon Station, Cheung Sha Wan and the New Development Areas (NDAs) in the New Territories. As a result, 29% of Grade A office space in the next five-years will be in Kowloon West with total supply expected to increase from 6 million sq. ft. in March 2022 to 9 million sq. ft. 2026.

This report was originally published in https://www.colliers.com/en-hk/research/colliers-radar-rediscovering-kowloon-west

The Greater Bay Area (GBA) has undergone rapid development in recent years, particularly in infrastructure and transportation network enhancement. Outline Development Plan for GBA issued by the Central government shows the Chinese government’s commitment to improving capital flows throughout the region, which will benefit Hong Kong, specifically the office market.

According to Knight Frank's in-house data, interviews from landlords, as well as information from tenants and agency practitioners, Biomedical, Family office, TMT and Emerging and high-growth Chinese companies are the four new potential Chinese mainland businesses to come to the Hong Kong market.

In this report, Knight Frank has identified three emerging office hubs in Kowloon that have greater potential to reap the benefits brought by the development of the GBA.

• Kai Tak Development Node – it is well connected to cities in GBA via the Intercity Through Train;
• Cheung Sha Wan – Lai Chi Kok – the upcoming notable new office supply in Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok area will transform it into one of the largest office hubs in western Kowloon;
• CBD1.5-XRL Station – given the large scale of development, prestigious location and unique positioning, the West Kowloon Cultural District together with the XRL topside project will become an important up and coming office hub in Hong Kong.

Looking ahead, GBA will continue to gather momentums to develop into a world-class city cluster, and Knight Frank expects leasing demand from Chinese Enterprises to rebound and keep rising upon the reopening of the border.

This report was originally published in https://www.knightfrank.com/research/report-library/greater-bay-area-development-report-june-2022-9110.aspx

With the pandemic having led many companies to incorporate increased levels of remote working into their current preferred workplace models to create a hybrid working approach, occupiers must now enhance their workplaces to deliver the type of seamless and engaging experiences that remote working cannot. This is no longer a “nice to have”; it’s a must have!

CBRE believes the creation of places where people work must be founded on understanding the changing nature of work in a hybrid world, what motivates people to come together, and a deep understanding of how to create experiences that really matter.

This report explores these challenges in detail by exploring how companies are planning for a hybrid future, as well as uncovering some of the nuances in approaches that exist between Asian and Western firms.

It also identifies and expands upon the five different types of workplace models identified by CBRE, which consider the fact that office role and design will likely vary according to what proportion of the week employees spend in the office.

This report was originally published in https://apacresearch.cbre.com/en/research-and-reports/Asia-Pacific-ViewPoint---Future-of-Office---Its-About-People-But-Place-Matters-Too

• Flex operators returned to growth in H2 2021 as an uptick in leasing volume brought an end to a phase of consolidation.

• Cautious growth is expected to continue in 2022 amid an increase in enterprise demand from tech firms and business services companies. Interest is also growing among financial companies, life sciences and consumer product firms.

• In response to evolving occupier demand, flex operators are increasingly providing a more diverse space offering, with changes being made to pricing models, centre networks and technology.

• Landlords are becoming more involved in providing flex options in their properties as traditional landlord-tenant approaches give way to partnerships, management agreements and owner-operator models.

This report was originally published in https://apacresearch.cbre.com/en/research-and-reports/Asia-Pacific-Report---Asia-Pacific-Flex-Space-Market-Bounces-Back