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‘We are not traditional Hong Kong developers,’ says Ricky Lui Kon-wai, Hysan’s chief operating officer. Photo: Xiaomei Chen/SCMP

Running track, yoga and spa – Hysan targets millennials with new Causeway Bay office tower

Developer says half the floor area at Lee Garden Three, which will also feature co-working spaces and is to open by year end, has been leased out

Workplaces are quickly evolving in Causeway Bay, one of Hong Kong’s busiest shopping and business districts, and the area’s biggest commercial landlord wants to lead on creating a more enjoyable and healthier work environment for millennials.

Hysan Development’s 32-storey, grade A office tower, Lee Garden Three, which is to open by year end, will feature an indoor running track, spaces for yoga and spas and a terrace.

“Society has changed and is focusing more on lifestyle. As an office operator, we need to go with the tide,” said Ricky Lui Kon-wai, Hysan’s chief operating officer. Lui said the 90-metre running track will be laid out on a fire-protection layer on the ninth floor of the new development.

Lee Garden Three will also feature a three-floor retail space that will have a design-led furniture store, niche fashion brands and lots of open spaces.

The developer also said it is reserving two or three floors for co-working spaces.

The building has already leased more than half of its floor area, attracting tenants that include regional banks, professional services companies, technology firms and logistics companies.

Lui said the demand for offices in Causeway Bay remains quite strong partly because many financial services companies and law firms are considering leaving Central due to sky-high rents, while the easy commute and diversity of Causeway Bay also prove to be very attractive.

The developer’s Hysan Place retail and office property in Causeway Bay. Photo: SCMP

In the first half of 2017, Hysan’s office portfolio renewals posted low double-digit growth, and the company remains positive for the whole year – it expects an average increase of 10 to 15 per cent.

Hysan, which has been in Causeway Bay for nearly a century, owns the Lee Gardens and Hysan Place retail and office properties, and Lee Garden Three is the latest example of the developer attempting to reinvent the community with its innovations.

“We are not traditional Hong Kong developers,” Lui said.

He spoke to the South China Morning Post at the pop-up Yum Sing Bar in the nearby Lee Garden One office tower, which is taking Hongkongers back to the 1970s, when Yum Sing Bar (located in the former Lee Gardens Hotel) was a nightlife hotspot in Causeway Bay, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lee Garden One.

The company also organised more than 100 events in the past year – from street tennis to an egg waffle festival – to engage with people from different age groups and different countries across the Lee Garden area.

It continues to adjust its tenant portfolio in the landmark Hysan Place shopping centre to boost traffic. Recently, it renovated the entire sixth floor to introduce the new fashion concept store i.t. blue block and the internet sensation pancake store Flippers.

In the past, people going for shopping said “I need an item”, but now it is “I want to enjoy the buying experience”, Lui said.

“And we want everyone to find their joy when they visit us.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Hysan helping Causeway Bay evolve
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