Hong Kong’s overall prime office vacancy rate fell to a seven-month low in May, driven by spillover demand from Central, where premium offices were close to full occupancy, according to JLL. With Central’s grade A office vacancy rate holding steady at 9.2 per cent, tenants appeared to have found their way to neighbouring Wan Chai…
Lawmakers have urged transport authorities to merge Hong Kong’s two cross-boundary ferry piers to optimise capacity and cater to the rising demand from luxury yachts, amid growing alternative transport options for travelling to mainland China. Their comments came on Thursday after the China Ferry Terminal and the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal recorded a year-on-year drop…
Four of 15 public primary schools in Hong Kong with insufficient enrolment will cease operations, eight will merge with other institutions and two others will operate self-financing Primary One classes this September, according to education authorities. Representatives from a schools council and a principals’ association said on Wednesday that they expected more institutions that fell…
Hongkongers packed the aisles of supermarkets with carts full of daily necessities as the city’s major grocery chains engaged in what some were calling a “price war” ahead of Mother’s Day. Hong Kong’s two major supermarket chains, CK Hutchison Holdings-backed ParknShop and Jardine Matheson’s Wellcome, each offered 12 per cent off everything in their stores…
More than 50 restaurants and shops have joined a “tourism everywhere” initiative to promote Hong Kong’s bustling Central district among residents and tourists and boost local spending. The Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association on Friday revealed the programme to promote hidden delicacies and goods in Central, aligning with the government’s objective to turn…
Hong Kong’s commercial property market attracted US$1.6 billion in investment in the first quarter, up 41 per cent from a year earlier, as demand for office, retail and hotel assets picked up amid improving liquidity, according to JLL. Investment volumes could receive a further boost from global investors looking to redeploy their capital amid the…
Some Hong Kong taxi drivers have yet to install e-payment options even after the city’s new mandatory electronic payment for taxis went into effect, highlighting a digital divide challenge facing cabbies, the South China Morning Post has observed. Starting on 1 April, the Transport Department mandated all drivers to offer passengers at least two electronic…
Hong Kong authorities will launch advertisments and a transport guide to help elderly residents adapt to the revised HK$2 (26 US cents) transport fare scheme coming into effect next Friday, according to the city’s welfare chief. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han on Tuesday said the government would publicise changes to the scheme…
Hong Kong cabbies are counting down to the end of the “keep the change” tradition as the industry prepares for a mandatory shift from cash-only payments to electronic settlements. In the weeks leading up to April 1, taxi drivers are racing to install e-payment tools, while service providers say 90 per cent of the cabbies…
Hong Kong police have arrested three men in connection with a HK$10 million (US$1.28 million) knifepoint robbery in Sheung Wan, the latest in a string of such cases targeting people exchanging foreign currency. Superintendent Lo Ka-chun said on Friday that officers had earlier received a tip-off that a criminal syndicate would attempt a robbery, prompting…