HONG KONG, 4 March 2015, CLSA Capital Partners (HK) and JLL today announced that “Bigfoot Centre” will be re-launched with the brand of “Zing!” and unveiled the latest development plan for the project. “Zing!” is located near Times Square in the traditional ‘golden triangle’ of the Causeway Bay retail market, and is expected to be a retail magnet that will draw lifestyle conscious consumers from across Hong Kong.
Situated at 38 Yiu Wa Street, a street that sees significant foot traffic 24 hours a day, “Zing!” has long been a popular destination for dining, entertainment and leisure in Causeway Bay. To strengthen the property value of “Zing!” and to capitalize on its geographical advantage, CLSA Capital Partners (HK) will introduce a complementary mix of tenants and brands and will also carry out renovations to the property. The refurbished building will welcome visitors with an eye-catching entrance and vibrant lobby equipped with a captivating video screen. The building is being positioned as a future retail landmark in the district.
CLSA has appointed JLL to be lead leasing agent and will launch a new round of leasing.
(from L to R) Denis Ma, Head of Research at JLL; Ronald Chiu, Investment Director at CLSA Capital Partners (HK) Limited and Manfred Yuen, Principal Director of Groundwork Architecture+Urbanism Ltd.
Ronald Chiu, investment director at CLSA Capital Partners (HK), said: “Tenants at “Zing!” include top-tier food and beverage brands Coffee Academics, HABITŪ Ristorante and Nan Tei. New tenants are expected to benefit from valuable cross-selling opportunities.”
““Zing!” enjoys the geographical advantage of close proximity to prime shopping centres such as Times Square and Lee Theatre, and is surrounded by chic and contemporary shops. We are confident that there will be significant demand for this project upon its launch, and that the premises will be highly appealing to specialty restaurants, hip bars and lounges and contemporary destination shopping and services stores. The Ginza-style retail building will offer a brand new “day-to-night” experience to customers,” he added.
Denis Ma, head of research at JLL, said: “Although headline retail sales trended sideways in 2014, demand for “Ginza-style retailing” premises remained largely intact. Sales of Food & Beverage operators and products associated with spa and beauty centres—tenants that typically prefer to be located in Ginza-style buildings—continued register steady growth, up by 3.5% and 9.3%, respectively. Looking forward, we are forecasting retail rents for Ginza-style buildings to continue to trend higher in 2015 on the back of the steady demand growth and the limited supply of modern high quality vertical retail projects in prime retailing districts such as Causeway Bay.”
“Zing!” comprises 30 floors of retail space, with each typical floor offering a marketable GFA of 2,959 to 3,416 sq ft. Upper floor units enjoy 270-degree harbor and city views and overlook the Happy Valley Racecourse. A number of units offer balcony space, which can offer a unique dining and leisure experience.