Sun Hung Kai launches Guangzhou flats, banks on high-speed rail link to attract Hong Kong homebuyers

Forest Park residential project is being developed as part of Guangzhou South Station ICC, a 1.8 million sq ft complex being built by SHKP since 2021
Developer aims to attract talent as well as enterprises to Guangzhou, by making use of the ‘advantages of high-speed rail connectivity’ with Hong Kong

China property

Yulu Ao

Published: 7:30am, 20 Jun 2023

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Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) is launching a new residential project in Guangzhou, joining the ranks of developers looking to attract Hong Kong homebuyers to flats in Greater Bay Area cities.

The developer is offering Hong Kong buyers 20 units at Forest Park, a 10-minute walk from the Guangzhou South railway station, which can be reached from Hong Kong’s West Kowloon station in 45 minutes via the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.

The first batch includes two and four-bedroom homes, with the two-bedroom units available for about 4 million yuan (US$559,018), the company said without providing further details. The flats will range from 732 sq ft to 1,335 sq ft, and are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2025.

Forest Park is being developed as part of Guangzhou South Station ICC, a 1.8 million sq ft complex being built by SHKP since 2021. The whole complex, with an integrated development space of about 860,000 square metres (9.3 million sq ft) in total, will also include office towers, a shopping centre, a hotel and serviced flats, and public transport facilities. It is expected to be completed in phases from 2025.

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“With advantages brought by good location, we aim to develop it into a comprehensive commercial project with high quality, and also to attract talent as well as enterprises to locate in Guangzhou, thereby making the station a hub of the Greater Bay Area,” said Sam Lai, general manager for the southern China region at SHKP.

“Meanwhile, we expect the project will make use of the advantages of high-speed rail connectivity and play a synergistic effect together with Hong Kong’s ICC [International Commerce Centre] and West Kowloon station, reinforcing collaboration between the two cities.”

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The Forest Park launch comes as several property developers are changing their sales strategy in mainland China because of weak local demand, and are stepping up efforts to attract Hong Kong homebuyers to Greater Bay Area cities. For instance, private-equity firm Gaw Capital, which manages six real estate-focused funds in the region, has recently been promoting flats in Foshan to Hong Kong buyers with discounts of as much as 20 per cent.

SHKP hopes to develop Guangzhou South Station ICC into a landmark mirroring Hong Kong’s ICC by linking the two hubs, the company said. Guangzhou South links four high-speed railway lines, four urban railway lines and four metros and is one of the busiest stations in mainland China. It recorded more than 865,000 people in a single day during the national “golden week” holiday in May this year, the highest level seen since May 1 in 2021, according to official data.

The sale is SHKP’s first launch since the border between Hong Kong and mainland China reopened earlier this year and Forest Park will have a total of 1,300 units.

A recovery in China’s property sector slowed down last month, after the prices of new homes in tier-1 cities rose by only 0.1 per cent month on month, slowing from a 0.4 per cent monthly gain in April, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.

SHKP currently operates nine projects in the Greater Bay Area’s mainland Chinese cities, including six in Guangzhou and one each in Dongguan, Foshan and Zhongshan, according to its website.