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Carrie Lam resigns丨The former Chief Executive's office rents Pacific Place's recent rent of 110 yuan per square foot, which is 4 times the government's new lease

2022-06-30T05:56:46.018Z


Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will officially step down the day after tomorrow (1st), and the government announced the establishment of a new former chief executive's office at Room 806, Pacific Place, Admiralty, to support him in promotional and courtesy work. The reporter came again on Wednesday (29th)


Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will officially step down the day after tomorrow (1st), and the government announced the establishment of a new former chief executive's office at Room 806, Pacific Place, Admiralty, to support him in promotional and courtesy work.


The reporter visited the office building again on Wednesday (29th), and the worker in charge of the renovation of the former Chief Executive's office said that they were renovating the opened Room 807 at the same time.

"Hong Kong 01" checked the transaction records and found that similar units in the same office building were rented for about 110 yuan per month (excluding rent-free periods and other factors), and the rent per square foot was 4 times that of the newly leased East Kowloon Commercial Building by the government recently.


Elected Executive Council Convenor and Legislative Council Member Ip Lau Suk-yee believes that the rent of the new former Chief Executive's Office is too expensive. It is suggested to use the Chief Executive-designate's Office currently located at the Immigration Headquarters or the Kowloon Tong Education Service Centre under the Education Bureau. .

Legislative Council member Tian Beichen is worried that the government has not set a rent cap for the former chief executive's office: "This time I rent Taikoo, will I have to rent the Guojindu next time?"


▼The former Chief Executive's Office on the 8th floor of One Pacific Place▼


No. 28 Kennedy Road "full", the government leases Pacific Place for Lam Cheng

The government claimed that the former Chief Executive's Office at 28 Kennedy Road could only be used by three former Chief Executives, so it rented Room 806 in Pacific Place to set up a new former Chief Executive's Office to support Carrie Lam's promotion and courtesy work.

After the renovation of the new office is completed, it will officially start operation at the end of July.

The reporter visited one Pacific Place last Thursday (23rd) and today (29th) and found that Room 806 and the adjacent Room 807 were being renovated.

The renovation workers revealed that they were renovating two units at the same time, and the two units were also connected.

The government has announced the establishment of a new former chief executive's office at Pacific Place, Admiralty to support its promotional and courtesy work.

(Photo by Lu Yingshan)

Get started with tenants and get through the monthly rent and miscellaneous fees of more than 400,000 yuan

Looking through the information, the first tenant is renting two units at the same time. The office rent is 364,000 yuan per month from August 2016 to July 2021, plus about 40,000 yuan per month for air-conditioning and management fees , that is, the related expenses for renting two units for one month have exceeded 400,000 yuan.

"Hong Kong 01" checked the transaction records and found that the office is located on one side and enjoys sea views. It is a high-quality unit in Pacific Place. Similar units in the same office building have been leased for about 100 to 110 yuan per square foot in the past two years.

Pacific Place is rented for 110 yuan per square foot, and the government rents East Kowloon Building for only 26 yuan per square foot

A large agency website quoted market information and pointed out that Pacific Place has leased a low-rise room 06 and 07 in recent months, with an area of ​​3,309 square feet, and the quoted square foot rent is 110 yuan, but it is unknown whether there is a rent-free period and other terms.

According to the latest market information, the current rent of seaview offices in Admiralty Harbour Centre and Lippo Centre ranges from HK$50 to HK$60 per square foot, which is only half of that of Pacific Place.

According to market sources, the government has leased a number of units in One Kowloon, Kowloon Bay in recent months. With the expansion of the government and related departments, the rent per square foot is only about 26 yuan.

In other words, the square foot rent of the former Chief Executive's office is four times that of the newly leased East Kowloon Commercial Building by the government.

Administration Department did not reply to lease information for a week

The reporter asked the Administration Office of the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office last Wednesday (22nd) to inquire about the area, rent, decoration and other expenses of the office and how to cope with the new expenses. However, the Administration Office said at the time that it was still being processed, and it has not received a reply for more than a week.

Therefore, it is still unclear whether the transaction cases quoted by the estate agent are the new former Chief Executive Office, and whether the taxpayer spends 400,000 yuan per month to rent an office for Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

In the 2020/21 financial budget, the total expenditure to support the three former chief executives is $11.41 million, but taking into account the rent of the new office, it is estimated that the cost of the former chief executive's office will increase significantly after Carrie Lam leaves office.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will officially step down the day after tomorrow (1st) and will later move to the former Chief Executive's Office at Pacific Place, Admiralty.

(File photo/Photo by Luo Junhao)

Looking through the information, the government appointed an independent committee in 2005 to study the arrangements for the chief executive after he left office. At that time, the committee recommended that an office should be set up in the existing government premises to serve all former chief executives to perform courtesy activities.

The current practice of the Government is not in line with the recommendations of the Independent Commission that year.

Ye Liu: There are government properties to choose from Tian Beichen: Rent and decoration fees should be disclosed

Ip Lau Suk-yi, the convener-designate of the Executive Council and a member of the Legislative Council, believes that the rent for an office is too expensive at more than 100 yuan per square foot, questioning whether the government really does not have suitable premises.

She believed that Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had just left office and had no urgent work to deal with. She suggested that she could use the Chief Executive-designate Office currently located at the Immigration Headquarters in Wan Chai, or the Kowloon Tong Education Service Centre under the Education Bureau.

Ip Lau Suk-yee, the convener-designate of the Executive Council and a member of the Legislative Council, believes that the rent for the new former Chief Executive's office is too expensive, questioning whether the government really has no suitable premises.

(File photo/Photo by Gao Zhongming)

Legislative Council member Tian Beichen pointed out that the government "sets a precedent" to set up the former chief executive's office in a private commercial building this time, and that there is no upper limit on the rent of the former chief executive's office. If you rent Taikoo for the second time, will you have to rent the National Gold Capital next time?” He believes that the rent and decoration expenses of the former Chief Executive’s office are public money, and the government should disclose it to the public.

When the Administration Department replied to the media earlier, it explained that considering that there are no other suitable government premises at present, and the operational needs of the former Chief Executive's Office, including location, transportation, convenience for meeting people from all walks of life, and security, etc. The establishment of the fourth former chief executive's office.

Legislative Council member Tian Beichen pointed out that the government "sets a precedent" to set up the former chief executive's office in a private commercial building this time, and that there is no upper limit on the rent of the former chief executive's office.

(File photo/Photo by Zheng Zifeng)

Former Chief Executive's Office "full" Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was assigned a Class A office in Admiralty after leaving office Reluctant to look forward to Xi Jinping's direction for the SAR.

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-06-30

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