After selling homes on The Peak, low-key Ho Shung-pun family puts building on the block

The five-storey building, located at 18 Bute Street in Mong Kok, was acquired in 1971 for HK$420,000

The family of Ho Shung-pun, a low-key clan of real estate developers in Hong Kong, has put a commercial property on the block after selling several luxury houses on The Peak last year to repay debt.

Colliers is the sole agent for the five-storey building located at 18 Bute Street in Mong Kok. Ho is the director of the Kowloon Investment, which bought the building in 1971 for HK$420,000 (US$53,580), according to official records.

The total gross floor area of the building is about 13,000 sq ft, with an average area of 2,550 sq ft per floor, according to Colliers. The property agent said the indicative price for the vacant building, listed on Wednesday, was HK$350 million.

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Last year, the sale of multiple houses on The Peak fetched the family about HK$3 billion.

The Ho family sold a town house at 28 Peak Road for HK$1.05 billion in November to Zhansheng Network Technology, according to official records.

In October, the family sold three units at 99, 101 and 103 Plantation Road to an executive of Hong Kong-listed power-tools maker Techtronic Industries for HK$828 million. The proceeds from the sale were partially used to repay a HK$1.6 billion private loan extended to the Ho family by Gaw Capital that was due in January, sources told the Post.

A couple months earlier, the Ho family sold three houses at 46 Plantation Road for HK$1.1 billion to smartphone touch screen tycoon Yeung Kin-man, with the sale proceeds also used to service the Gaw Capital loan.

Ho, who is in his 80s, is a former mathematics professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He and his relatives are the directors of Kowloon Investment, a property investment and management company established in 1955, according to the Companies Registry.

The company's real estate portfolio includes the Portofino Villa and Portofino luxury flats in Clear Water Bay and two commercial buildings in Mong Kok , including the one that was put on the block on Wednesday.

Cash-strapped investors are offloading their assets amid a debt crunch that has been exacerbated by falling property valuations and high interest rates.

Hong Kong property investment firm Gale Well Group on Wednesday put a luxury property site in Stanley on the block for HK$520 million, continuing its campaign to divest and deleverage amid a prolonged downturn in the city's real estate market.

Last week, Gale Well named Savills as the agent for three shops in North Point, Causeway Bay and Wan Chai, which have a combined indicative price of HK$190 million.

A luxury detached house in Pok Fu Lam, owned by Hong Kong's "Cassette King" David Chan Ping-chi, was put on the market on May 20 by the receivers in yet another distressed sale, after lender Fubon Bank seized the property to recover unpaid debt.

Martin Wong, senior director and head of research and consultancy for Greater China at Knight Frank, said the falling Hong Kong interbank offered rate ( Hibor) was an opportunity for sellers to liquidate, as buyers were likely to take advantage of the lower cost of funding.

However, investors expect Hibor to rebound at some point, he added.