Very smart Hong Kong retail buy for US$ 2.7 million or not?

By HK Lawyer AJ Halkes Barrister-at-Law

AJ Halkes
September 1, 2026
1:43 pm

I have been saying we have reached an inflection point in Hong Kong where it can make sense for a food and beverage operator (seeking stability) to try to purchase their own real estate. Nothing illustrates this better than the numbers of a reported acquisition of a G/F Arbuthnot House, Central site that houses Salon 10.

Reported by the SCMP as being a HK$21.4 million deal, collecting rent from an established tenant with market upside seems a smart move. So why not, as an operator, try to buy something right now, lock in stability and end the complaining about “landlords”?

I know it can be difficult to raise money or a fraction of it simply because bank lending is notoriously difficult to obtain on commercial property. That systemic block to an increase in owner-occupied retail is very unhealthy, and the Government could look to fixing this. Not that the major developers would like it much; but it would make the sector and the HKSAR a lot more interesting (and stable) to invest in.

I stand by my view, held for a while now, that any visionary food & beverage group should think about and where possible look at, buying a site to operate from to avoid getting locked into paying a landlord forever.

And if the f&b concept fails, they can always become a landlord!

https://lnkd.in/gCBEPjtE

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