Hong Kong’s Parking Space Sells for $1.53 Million at Mount Nicholson

Mount Nicholson has one of the most expensive luxury residential lots in Hong Kong. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images)

In Hong Kong, every inch of land is as expensive as gold. Parking spaces can sell for as much as you would pay for a luxury home. Recently, a Mount Nicholson parking space sold for $1.53 million—the same cost of a 2-bedroom flat in Taikoo Shing (a private residential development in Hong Kong).

In May, Hong Kong’s Mount Nicholson luxury properties began selling car parking spaces at strata residences (condo and townhouse developments), by offering to the highest bidder at a minimum price of about $1.13 million. Each household can be allocated an average of one to two parking spaces, with a maximum of three spaces. Records show that a total of 22 transactions have been registered so far, with buyers including celebrities and tycoons from China and Hong Kong.

According to the latest records in the Hong Kong Land Registry, three parking spaces sold for $1.53 million each, totaling $4.59 million, a new record for sales of parking spaces in Hong Kong.

The buyer Poon Ho-Tak, the executive director of Texwinca Holdings (a famous casual wear brand in Asia called Baleno), purchased two units during Phase II of Mount Nicholson’s development in 2016 for more than $96 million, at $10,900 per square foot.

Macau gambling king Stanley Ho’s fourth wife Leong On-kei had bought four units at Mount Nicholson in 2016 for $166 million, as a gift to her two daughters, Ho Chiu Yeng and Ho Chiu Yan. This time, she bought for them six adjoining parking spaces for $1.27 million each.

Mr. and Mrs. Leung Shiu Hung also purchased a number of parking spaces in the project totaling $5.06 million, with an average price of $1.27 million per transaction.

Leung Shiu Hung, the founder of Tai Hung Fai Enterprise, ranks as the 19th richest person in Hong Kong. Early in 2015, he bought a parking space on the ground floor of the Grande Building for about $17 million in order to acquire the ownership of the building, making it probably the most expensive parking space in the world.

Mainland Buyers Make Big Splashes

Mainland Chinese buyers were active in the parking space transactions of the luxury residential development. According to the Hong Kong Land Registry, a parking space was sold last month for $1.3 million to Qiu Mingjing, a nonpublic rich person who bought a mid-rise unit at Mount Nicholson for $69 million in a one-time payment last June.

Other Mainland buyers include: Zhu Xingliang, the founder of China Golden Mantis Group, who bought a parking space at the property last month for $1.3 million;

Lin Zhongmin, the chairman of Yi’an Group, who bought three parking spaces for more than $3.54 million;

Yu Feng, the founder and chairman of China Yunfeng Fund, purchased three parking spaces at a cost of over $3.67 million; and

Huo Dong, the chairman of Shenzhen listed company Rendong Holdings, purchased one parking space for $1.2 million.

Mount Nicholson, one of the priciest hilltop sites in Hong Kong, is located in the Wanchai district with the best landscape overlooking Victoria Harbor. The co-developers are Hong Kong real estate developer Nan Fung Group and Wharf Holdings.

Mount Nicholson is famous for having the priciest land. In 2017, it sold two houses for $150 million with an average price per square foot of $17,000, the most expensive in Asia. The record was held until this February when real estate company Cheung Kong sold residences for $17,500 per square foot.