Sino Group, Hongkong Land push to make city a hub for property-tech development in Asia, nurturing innovative start-ups

Hong Kong’s spot within the Greater Bay Area can attract start-ups and give the city a leg up on competitors like Singapore, Sino Group executive says

City has a role to play nurturing everything from useful apps for tenants to cleaning robots that can climb treacherous façades

With its connections to the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong is well positioned to be the Asia-Pacific hub for the development of property technology, playing a key role in cultivating an ecosystem of innovative start-ups, according to one of Hong Kong’s biggest developers.

Proptech spans a wide range of technologies that aim to optimise how people research, rent, buy, sell and manage properties. It includes property-listing websites but also extends to apps for building occupants – to adjust office temperatures or check the length of taxi queues before leaving home – and even cleaning robots that climb building façades.

“Hong Kong can lead the Asian region in usage of proptech and also nurturing proptech start-ups, which is why we are looking globally in this field to make Hong Kong a hub in Asia,” Andrew Young, associate director of innovation at Sino Group, told the Post.

As a regional leader in property management, Hong Kong has sophisticated developers that can help the development of proptech innovations by sharing their experiences with such technologies, Young added.

“It is all about enhancing the experience of the customers when they buy or rent Sino’s home or use Sino’s mall,” he said. “Recently many of our customers are concerned about cleanliness, safety and healthiness.”

Sino Group owns the Olympian City shopping mall in Kowloon and its residential properties include Villa Garda in Lohas Park, Grand Central in Kwun Tong and Grand Mayfair near Yuen Long.

Beyond efficiency, proptech can help developers create a satisfying experience for tenants and owners, Young said.

“It is not about how much is spent, but the feeling about whether this developer is a good service provider,” he said. “At the end of day, our product reflects us. Innovation drives our product and solution, the value to the customer.”

Kent Jan, director and head of digital transformation and innovation with Hongkong Land, cited daily life examples about the benefits of proptech for occupants. Hongkong Land is the biggest landlord in Central, with a portfolio that includes Exchange Square and Landmark.

For instance, Hongkong Land has apps that allow users to monitor the queue at nearby taxi stands, and adjust office temperatures. The latter fucntion helps the landlord discover problems and has reduced service calls by 60 per cent.

Hong Kong is well positioned to lead in proptech development due to its location. “Singapore is always a competitor,” Young said. “But I think Hong Kong has more attraction since the Greater Bay Area market, [which is] much larger, is attractive to these tech companies.”

Sino Group and Hongkong Land have joined forces for PropXTech 2022, the second edition of an acceleration programme. The programme invites technology start-ups and established companies from around the world to apply to collaborate with various business units within Sino Group and Hongkong Land to further the development of their products.

More than 3,000 applications came in this year from companies in 70 countries and territories, including Hong Kong, China, Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Applications increased significantly compared to the inaugural programme last year despite difficult economic conditions.

One example is a cleaning robot that can climb façades and walls in Spider-Man-like fashion. The robot can clean areas that are otherwise difficult or dangerous to reach.

The two developers selected 30 finalists following multiple rounds of reviews. Sino Group and Hongkong Land will now provide the finalists with a platform to demonstrate their solutions to potential industry partners and investors, including the members of Hong Kong PropTech Alliance.

The effort mirrors a strategy set out in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s Hong Kong Policy Address, which calls for taking innovation and technology to the next level and enlarging the pool of talent.

Technology can help developers achieve goals with environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) objectives, such as the reduction of carbon emissions, which is also what the investor community wants to see, said Young.

“Our PropTech Alliance finds environmental [protection] and ESG a common topic,” he said.

(South China Morning Post)

For more information of Office for Lease at Exchange Square please visit: Office for Lease at Exchange Square

For more information of Grade A Office for Lease in Central please visit: Grade A Office for Lease in Central

恒基中環地王申建3幢商廈 首期2026年落成 重建25米高天星鐘樓

恒基去年11月豪擲508億奪得的中環新海濱3號商業地王，其發展計畫備受關注，最新該公司向城規會申建3幢商廈，涉及可建總樓面約161.46萬方呎，另外申請放寬建築物高度限制以重建25米高天星鐘樓，並提供逾41.6萬方呎的休憩用地，以打造「城市綠洲」，首期項目預計在2026年完成，勢將為該區帶來新景象。

據城規會文件顯示，該項目屬「綜合發展區」及顯示為「道路」的地方地帶，申請擬議綜合辦公室、商業及零售發展 (包括商店及服務行業、食肆及娛樂場所) 和政府用途，並略為放寬建築物高度限制。

項目地盤面積約51.63萬方呎，商業部分可建總樓面約161.46萬方呎，包括69.13萬方呎辦公室，商業/零售92.32萬方呎。而非商業部分可建總樓面約24.56萬方呎，提供公共交通設施及公共停車場、政府、機構或社區設施 (包括重置受影響的郵政總局和公共廁所以及重建天星小輪鐘樓)。同時，項目提供共963個車位，當中325個為公眾私家車停車位。

以「橋」作設計概念

項目細分東面及西面兩部分發展，其中西面部分興建3幢商業物業，將興建一個以「橋」作為整個發展設計概念的綜合項目，為中環新海濱打造世界級地標。並透過空中平台連接3幢向海濱遞減建築物高度的商業大樓，其中第1座樓高6層，建築物高度不多於47米；而第2座樓高9層，第3座樓高10層，而第2及3座建築物高度不多於50米，3幢建築物不包括4層地庫 (耀星街以北) 及6層地庫 (耀星街以南)。

東面部分主要為重置天星鐘樓，建築物高度由原來的16米 (主水平基準上)，申請放寬至25米，增幅約56%；同時發展低層園景行人平台並在其下提供商業設施，樓高1至2層 (不包括地庫)。

現有連接國際金融中心和中環碼頭連接大樓的行人天橋將被重新規劃為園景行人平台，涉及30.9萬方呎的公眾休憩用地，包括位於「Horizon Park」空中平台的公眾休憩空間，其他設於低層和地面的公眾休憩空間，以及一條結合「Grand Boulevard」、長達400米，經地面從中環內陸延伸至海濱的景觀走廊。由歷史走廊、休憩用地走廊及觀景走廊組成，現位於三號用地的皇后像廣場走廊將被美化並打造成現代化的園景行人平台，與零售商業發展和怡人的休憩空間充分融合，在海濱位置創造不同焦點的同時，亦能尊重文化歷史脈絡。另有約10.66萬方呎私人休憩用地，換言之整個項目休憩用地逾41.6萬方呎。

休憩用地逾41.6萬呎

申請地點擬分兩期發展，其中第一期的3A用地 (包括早期重置地區相關和現有公共設施) 預計在2026年完成，而第二期的3B用地預計於2031年完成。

恒基指，為原址重建的天星小輪鐘樓向城規會申請放寬建築物高度限制；強化中環新海濱城市設計研究訂明的設計走廊和景觀走廊；改善中環內陸和海濱之間的互動，以及增進與周邊地區的聯繫；同時完全符合海港規劃指引；同時創造大量綠化空間以提升園境舒適度並重建城市生物多樣性；改劃不對周圍環境造成任何不良影響。

(星島日報)

更多國際金融中心寫字樓出租樓盤資訊請參閱：國際金融中心寫字樓出租

更多中環區甲級寫字樓出租樓盤資訊請參閱：中環區甲級寫字樓出租