UBS Renews Two IFC Lease as Hong Kong Central Rents Drop

Bloomberg reports that the bank will continue to lease the eight floors it currently occupies in the city’s second-tallest tower until 2019 at an average monthly rent of about HK$106 ($13.70) a square foot, said two people familiar with knowledge of the deal, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

Fiona Chan, a UBS spokeswoman in Hong Kong, confirmed the bank has extended the lease, declining to comment on the details.

Average rental prices in Central, the world’s most expensive place to lease office space, fell about 12% last year as banks cut staff and sought cheaper locations on slowing corporate finance activities. Space in buildings with large floor plans of more than 20,000 square feet, a feature favored by global investment banks, is in short supply in the city, property brokers, including CBRE Group Inc., have said.

'It shows that even with all the bad news and talks of cost cutting, a lot of existing tenants in the district just can’t leave', said Simon Lo, director of research and advisory at property broker Colliers International. 'This should be a good news for the landlords'.

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UBS Renews Two IFC Lease as Hong Kong Central Rents Drop

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