Real estate market
Written by: Cai Weinan
2021-03-08 18:17
Last update date: 2021-03-08 18:30
UA Cinemas, a chain of cinemas, announced today (8th) the initiation of the liquidation process and the closure of the entire chain. Its 6 cinemas, all located in shopping malls, ceased operations on the same day.
Due to the sudden incident, the owners of the shopping malls responded to the "Hong Kong 01" inquiry and stated that they need to contact UA or the provisional liquidator and follow up on the shop.
Some industry pointed out that if the landlord and the tenant fail to reach a consensus and compensation, the landlord may have to "work for one to two years" to recover the shop.
In the face of low winds in the retail market in recent months, vacant shops may be converted to restaurants or subdivided and leased to general retail.
Individual cinemas have been owed rent for many months and have been filed for recovery
According to the information, UA Cinemas had 6 branches in Hong Kong before closing, including Times Square in Causeway Bay, MOKO New Century Plaza in Mong Kok, Amoy Gardens in Kowloon Bay, MegaBox Shopping Centre in Kowloon Bay, Tsing Yi City and Tung Chung Citygate, involving more than 4,400 Seats.
Among them, Amoy Gardens and Times Square Cinemas had owed rents for more than a few months, and were filed by the owners of the shopping malls for claims.
Swire and UA are following up with Hang Lung to contact provisional liquidators
Regarding the closure of UA Cinemas, "Hong Kong 01" asked the owners of its malls. Among them, a spokesperson for Tung Chung Citygate, a subsidiary of Swire Properties (1972), stated that it received a notice from UA Cinemas today, stating that UA Citygate will be closed immediately , Is following up with UA Cinemas and will review the subsequent arrangements of the relevant shops.
As for the spokesperson of Hang Lung Properties (0101), it will contact and follow up with the provisional liquidator. In view of the commercial confidentiality agreement signed with the tenants, it has not been able to disclose the details of the lease of UA's premises in Amoy Gardens.
Li Genxing: If the two sides owe a consensus, it may take one or two years
Regarding the sudden closure of large tenants, Li Genxing, founder and CEO of Shenghui Store Fund, believes that in such emergencies, shopping mall owners usually negotiate directly with tenants for compensation for the remaining lease period, and they can return the shop at any time as long as the two parties negotiate.
If the two parties fail to reach a consensus, the landlord may have to file a lawsuit against the tenant to close the premises. "It may take one to two years."
Because theaters often occupy more than 10,000 square feet of floor space, facing the sluggish retail market, and more large buildings are abandoned for rent, Li Genxing believes, "The theater is out, everyone stays in the housing industry to watch the Internet TV and the housing industry department. The TV is just passing the theater." He pointed out that the floor of the theater involved could be converted into a food court (Food Court), or it could be broken down and converted for general retail use to allow entrepreneurs to enter.
He continued to point out that these buildings can continue to be used as theaters and serve the function of attracting people to the shopping malls, but the landlord needs to expect that the rental return will not be high.
Zhongyuan Pan Zhiming: The easiest and most direct way to find a new cinema line to receive comprehensively
Pan Zhiming, the managing director of Centaline (Industrial and Commercial Store), believes that the easiest and most direct way to deal with the vacant floor space vacated by the closure of UA Cinemas is to find another theater to take over, and to re-negotiate the lease and rent.
He continued that if no one is willing to take over the vacant floor space in the end and let other industries settle in, he will need to apply to the Buildings Department for a change of use. This is not too difficult because the theater itself already meets strict fire protection standards. There are also theaters that have been converted into restaurants and churches.
Although the movie theater line business suffered a severe setback under the epidemic, there is still no shortage of new blood to join the theater market in recent months.
Among them, ACX Cinemas opened its first cinema in North Point Shopping Centre, North Point in November last year; in addition, Golden Scene also rented a ground floor shop in the South Horizons Garden in Kennedy Town for a monthly rent of 460,000 yuan to open the Gao Xian Cinema. , And opened last month.
As for the Emperor Cinemas, which opened as early as 2017, it has been actively expanding during the period. So far, it has 6 theaters in Hong Kong, distributed in Central, Tsim Sha Tsui, etc. Last year, it was stationed in THE LOHAS, a new mall in LOHAS Park.
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