The government has set up a new former chief executive's office in Pacific Place, Admiralty, for Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, but has not announced its rent and internal area.
Since the 22nd of last month, "Hong Kong 01" has repeatedly inquired about the office area, rent, decoration and other expenses of the office and how to cope with the new expenses. About 2,800 square feet, the monthly rent is 377,000 yuan, that is, the annual expenditure of public funds is more than 4.52 million yuan.
In addition, the Administration Office said that the renovation cost of the former Chief Executive was about 8.7 million yuan, and the three-year rent plus decoration exceeded 22 million yuan.
Compared with the former chief executive's office at 28 Kennedy Road, which was about 5,400 square feet, the renovation cost at the time was only $2.8 million.
▼The former Chief Executive's Office on the 8th floor of One Pacific Place▼
The Government announced earlier that since the former Chief Executive's Office at 28 Kennedy Road can only be used by three former Chief Executives, the former Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will rent Room 806 at Pacific Place, Admiralty as the new former Chief Executive's Office to support her. Perform promotional and courtesy work.
However, the Administration Department has not disclosed the public funds used for renting offices.
Asking about rent and renovation costs, the Administration initially said "there is no supplement"
Since the 22nd of last month, "Hong Kong 01" has emailed the Administration Office of the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office at least four times to inquire about the office area, rent and decoration expenses and how to cope with the new expenses.
The Administration Department initially said there was no additional information and refused to reply to details such as rent and renovation fees.
During the period, the reporter asked the department to explain the reasons for refusing to provide relevant answers. The Administration Department later said that it would reply again. Until Hong Kong 01 published a report on the estimated office rent of about 400,000 yuan on the 29th, the department still refused to provide a reply date. .
During the reporter's repeated phone calls and emails, the reporter claimed that the response time was unreasonable, indicating that he might complain to the Ombudsman's Office, and asked for a reply within today (11 days).
▼The reporter asked the Administration for details about the lease of the Pacific Place office for several days▼
Three weeks later, the monthly rent was 377,000 yuan, and the decoration fee was 8.7 million yuan.
The Administration Department finally replied after nearly three weeks, and revealed that the former Chief Executive's Office had an internal floor area of about 2,874 square feet (267 square meters), with a lease term of 3 years and a monthly net rent of about 377,000 yuan.
However, the spokesman did not respond to monthly expenses such as other miscellaneous expenses, nor did he explain how many former chief executives could use the relevant offices.
The Administration Department has always stated that the rented unit is Room 806, but according to the unit area provided by the Department and the plan of One Pacific Place, it is inferred that the former Chief Executive's Office should have rented Room 807 at the same time.
The reporter visited Pacific Place at the end of June and found that Room 806 and the adjacent Room 807 were being renovated. The renovation workers revealed at the time that the two units were connected.
Central District A Buildings generally reduce rents by more than 10%, the rent of the former Chief Executive's office rises 3.6% in the epidemic
Looking through the information, the first-hand tenant also rented two units at the same time. The market quoted a building area of 3,300 square feet. The office rented 364,000 yuan per month from August 2016 to July 2021, plus 3.47 yuan per month. 10,000 to 40,200 yuan for air-conditioning and management fees.
In May of this year, a large agency bank published a report stating that rent reductions in A Building in Central District are attracting tenants, including high-rise units such as Phase 3 of Pacific Place in Admiralty and Central Center, where the rent per square foot is 10 to 30% lower than before. Rent increase for rented units in the epidemic city.
In other words, excluding the rates of the office building (generally paid by the tenant), the monthly rent of the unit is 377,000 yuan plus about 40,000 yuan for air-conditioning and management fees, and the monthly expenses exceed 400,000 yuan.
The government rented an office for Carrie Lam for three years, together with decoration costs, air-conditioning and management costs, excluding the salaries of support staff, and it is estimated that it involved at least $23.1 million in public funds.
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)
Luxurious decoration with furniture about RMB 3,100 per sq. ft.
The Administration Department explained that considering that it must meet the status of the former chief executive and meet the operational requirements in terms of location, transportation, convenience for meeting people from all walks of life, and security, it decided to set up the relevant offices in Central or Admiralty.
The department also pointed out that since there is no suitable government premises in the area, and the area of one Pacific Place meets the requirements for the establishment of the former Chief Executive's Office, it believes that the rental metal market is at a reasonable level.
In addition, the Administration Department also revealed that the decoration specifications and requirements of the office must be in line with the identity of the former Chief Executive and the planning according to the police's instructions on security considerations. The Architectural Services Department is responsible for the relevant decoration works, and the project cost (including furniture and equipment) is about 8.7 million yuan. , that is, the average renovation cost is about $3,100 per square foot.
After the former Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor leaves office, she will continue to carry out promotion and courtesy work as the new former Chief Executive's Office at Room 806, Pacific Place, Admiralty.
(Carrie Lam FB)
Kennedy Road's former chief executive's 2007 renovation cost 2.8 million yuan
According to Cushman & Wakefield's latest "2022 Office Space Renovation Cost Indicators in Asia Pacific", it shows that the average renovation cost per square foot of Hong Kong office buildings is about HK$1,082, and if the decoration cost exceeds HK$1,410 per square foot, it is already a high-end decoration plan.
Compared with the 5,382 sq. ft. floor area of the former Chief Executive's Office at 28 Kennedy Road, the renovation cost in 2007 was only $2.8 million, which was one third of the renovation cost this time. Installation of central air-conditioning, electrical wiring and roof waterproofing works.
▼The former Chief Executive Office of 28 Kennedy Road▼
As for why it did not follow the recommendation of the Independent Government Committee at that time to request the government to set up an office to serve all the former chief executives in the existing property, the Administration did not reply, only that if there are suitable government properties or other properties available in the future As the former Chief Executive's Office, the Government will consider relocating or relocating the former Chief Executive's Office in Admiralty according to the actual situation.
Carrie Lam resigns丨The former Chief Executive's office rents Pacific Place for 110 yuan per square foot recently, which is 4 times the government's new lease Youngest son Lin Joshie, French postdoctoral fellow in mathematics, Carrie Lam's FB page was suspended on Thursday. The last post said that he was looking forward to Xi Jinping's direction for the SAR.