The potential supply of commercial land is 20 million only 10 years

Rents in commercial buildings have hit record highs. Jones Lang LaSalle believes that the current land debate ignores the demand for commercial land. At present, the commercial land that the government can sell involves 20.1 million square feet of floor space, which is only used for 10 years. I hope the government will plan the land in the future. Leave a portion for commercial use.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s research report on commercial land supply yesterday indicated that the government’s available commercial land for sale in the future will have an office building floor of approximately 20.1 million square feet. Based on the annual absorption of 2 million square feet of office space, the potential supply is only It is used for 10 years, and most of the supply is located in Kowloon, accounting for over 70% of the total, while Hong Kong Island only supplies 5.4 million square feet.

Ma Anping, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said that in recent years, the supply of Grade A office space in Hong Kong has increasingly relied on government land sales. From 2008 to 2017, only 30% of the supply came from the government to sell land, and in the next five years it will be as high as 60%. He is worried that the lack of sufficient commercial launch in the future will affect the stability of office supply.

Shortage of office buildings

Therefore, Zeng Huanping, the managing director of the bank, believes that the recent debate on land debates is focused on housing, but there is also a shortage of supply in office buildings. The high rents and insufficient supply will affect Hong Kong’s economic competitiveness. The bank suggested that the government should introduce 20.1 million square feet of commercial space as soon as possible. At the same time, when reclaiming land or developing brownfields, some of them will be reserved for commercial use. It is expected to supply about 2 million square feet of floor space per year.

The Chairman of the Land Supply Task Force, Mr Wong Wai-fai, denied that the debate on housing supply focused on housing supply. He pointed out that rents were expensive, the living environment was overcrowded, the public had a personal feeling about the housing problem, and there were more natural discussions. However, the team has always stressed that when solving the housing problem, It is also necessary to meet the demand for more than 250 hectares of economic land and more than 700 hectares of infrastructure land. In the future, a full report will be submitted, which will not only focus on residential land.

Another local research institute published a study that looked at the short-term tenancy land in the territory, the land allocated by the interim government, and the vacant official land that was not leased or not allocated. It was found that about 301 hectares were not used properly, and an estimated 90,000 transitionalities could be built. Housing units, 43 gymnasiums and elderly facilities providing 120,000 service places, such as a 10.8 hectare logistics site at Stonecutters Island Public Cargo Working Area, were originally planned to be awarded to the No. 8 (West) Container Terminal by long-term contract. However, it has not been implemented so far, leaving the land idle for 8 years.