Hong Kong ranks as eighth most attractive office location for tech tenants

Its proximity to Shenzhen is cited as one of the “wild card” factors.

Hong Kong ranked 8th in Asia as a hub for technology, media and telecoms (TMT) tenants seeking office space as its proximity to Shenzhen has seen a number of TMT occupiers set up shop, according to a report from property consulting firm Colliers.

With an index score of 59.1%, Hong Kong scored favourably in three of the four metrics used by the study, including accessibility and availability of office stock, despite higher office rents compared to other top locations. In the overall rankings, Hong Kong ranks behind Chinese cities like Beijing (60.34%), Shanghai (60.1%), Seoul (59.5%), and Hyderabad (59.3%) as secondary tech hubs.

Also read: Here's why tech tenants are ditching Hong Kong for Bangalore and Singapore 

Meanwhile, the primary tech cities include Bangalore (67.9%), Singapore (62.6%) and Shenzhen (60.9%).

Colliers identified Hong Kong as a “wild card” tech location, amidst surging fintech investments, and recent expansion by tech forerunners such as Alibaba and Facebook in the city.

Causeway Bay was the top pick for TMT tenants in Hong Kong due to high space and accessibility, followed by Quarry Bay and Cyberport. “These districts are all located on Hong Kong Island, which is optimal for attracting top talent. Causeway Bay and – to a greater extent – Quarry Bay offer large tech groups lower rents than Central or Admiralty,” according to the report.

Meanwhile, "Hong Kong Science Park (HKSP), near Shatin, is another TMT hub in Hong Kong, and the largest in the city with over 700 tech firms," the report added. The Park offers incubator space which is relatively different from the other tech clusters in the city.