Kerry Properties to Build Twin Towers at HK$4.31B Ho Man Tin Site

Kerry Properties has won a HK$4.31 billion government residential site in Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, with plans for two 25-storey luxury towers. The bid, at HK$20,738 per square foot, marks Kowloon's highest residential land rate in nearly five years.

Kerry Properties plans to build two 25-storey luxury residential towers in Hong Kong's Ho Man Tin area after winning a HK$4.31 billion (US$549 million) government site at Kowloon's highest residential land rate in nearly five years. The proposed project will include a residents' clubhouse and parking, with homes on the middle and upper floors expected to have views of Victoria Harbour, according to a Tuesday announcement by the HKEX-listed developer controlled by billionaire Robert Kuok. The government estimates the plot can accommodate 250 homes.

“We are confident in the project's prospects and will draw on the group's extensive experience in delivering premium residential properties to create an iconic, high-quality development in Ho Man Tin,” said Calvin Tong, director and general manager for Hong Kong at Kerry Properties. The tender, awarded by the Lands Department on Tuesday, attracted 10 bids. Kerry's winning bid exceeded CHFT Advisory and Appraisal's expected award price of HK$2.45 billion to HK$2.6 billion by roughly 66 to 76 per cent, according to Alex Leung, chief surveyor at the Hong Kong-based firm. “The awarded price level is therefore a big surprise to us,” Leung told Mingtiandi.

The 55,650 square foot hillside plot on Fat Kwong Street, known as Kowloon Inland Lot No.11301, carries a 50-year land grant and permits 207,745 square feet (19,300 square metres) of gross floor area. Kerry must also build branches of a neighbourhood elderly centre and a community mental wellness centre, whose floor space is excluded from the development limit. The consideration equates to HK$20,738 per square foot of permitted floor area, compared with estimates ranging from CHFT's HK$11,800 on the low end to Centaline's HK$15,000. Kowloon last recorded a residential land rate above HK$20,000 in October 2021, when Lai Sun Development paid HK$22,464 per square foot for a Broadcast Drive site in Kowloon Tong.

CHFT's Leung attributed the high bid equally to the scarcity of luxury residential sites and sentiment in the residential land market, pending disclosure of the unsuccessful offers. He said Kerry's success selling Mont Verra in Beacon Hill gave the developer greater confidence than its rivals. Leung expects Kerry to favour larger luxury homes, arguing that smaller flats would be easier to sell but offer limited scope to command prices above nearby projects. He estimates that the development would need an average selling price of HK$45,000 per square foot of saleable area to generate a reasonable profit margin.

The tender's unsuccessful bidders included Sun Hung Kai Properties, China Overseas Land & Investment, Poly Property Group, Hang Lung Properties, Chinachem Group, CK Asset Holdings, K Wah International Holdings and Wheelock Properties. Sino Land and Great Eagle Holdings submitted a joint bid.

Earlier Kerry purchases this year included a HK$1.38 billion government site in Shau Kei Wan, a HK$430.3 million Kowloon Tong plot and a HK$354 million site at 62E Robinson Road and 4 Seymour Terrace in Mid-Levels West. Together with Ho Man Tin, those four transactions represent HK$6.48 billion in land acquisitions.

The latest purchase comes as Hong Kong generated 81 per cent of Kerry's first-half contracted sales, with local sales rising 1 per cent to HK$5.6 billion. Mainland contracted sales fell 88 per cent to HK$1.3 billion, partly reflecting comparison with the Shanghai Jinling Residences launch in the first half of 2025.

Kerry's three first-half Hong Kong acquisitions added 235,000 square feet to its development pipeline, with the Ho Man Tin plot providing nearly as much floor area in one transaction. The group's gearing ratio eased to 31.3 per cent at the end of June from 33.3 per cent six months earlier, supported by receipts from property sales.

The new site is about six minutes on foot from Ho Man Tin MTR station, served by the Tuen Ma and Kwun Tong lines. West Kowloon and Hung Hom railway stations are each an eight-minute drive away, adding access to cross-boundary transport connections.

Fat Kwong Street was the sole new government residential tender announced in the July-September land-sale programme. Development Secretary Bernadette Linn said in July that rezoning from government, institution or community use to residential use had been completed, opening a development opportunity in a mature neighbourhood with established facilities and transport links.