University Buys Hong Kong Hotel for $128M as Mainland Enrollment Surges

Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU) has acquired a 255-key hotel in Kowloon’s Hung Hom area for use as student housing, as the educational institution seeks to expand its accommodation space amid an influx of mainland Chinese students in the city.

The university bought the newly completed Urbanwood Hung Hom hotel from the Law family behind local developer Yu Tai Hing for an undisclosed sum, with market sources indicating the asset changed hands at a price of roughly HK$1 billion ($128 million).

“The property offers comfortable accommodation with convenient access to public transport, enabling more non-local and exchange students to study at the University and providing local students with more opportunities to interact with them,” HKMU president Paul Lam Kwan-sing said in a release on Friday. “This will not only enrich the students’ campus life, but also enhance the learning atmosphere and promote internationalisation on campus.”

The acquisition comes after the number of full time mainland Chinese students studying in Hong Kong reached 16,179 in the 2022-2023 academic year, representing a 31.5 percent increase from 2018-2019, according to statistics from Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, which allocates funding to the city’s eight major public universities.

480 Beds

The property is located at 84-102 Wuhu Street – within a ten-minute walk of the Ho Man Tin MTR and Whampoa MTR stations and a 20-minute walk from the HKMU campus – and measures approximately 66,400 square feet (6,169 square metres) in gross floor area across two adjoining 16-storey buildings.

Based on the transaction price, HKMU acquired the property at a price of HK$3.9 million per key and HK15,060 per square foot.

Set to be renamed MU88, the student housing facility will commence operation in August, with HKMU making unspecified modifications and enhancements to the property to suit students’ living and study needs. The property is capable of housing 480 persons and will primarily cater to non-local students, with some rooms reserved for exchange students and visiting scholars.

The annual occupancy fee for a single room is HK$112,000, including utilities and a HK$8,000 deposit, according to the university’s website.

HKMU said it acquired the property after the university’s growing student population in recent years exceeded the campus’ existing accommodation space, leading the university to adopt “flexible and innovative” approaches for expansion.

The university had initially approached the Law family to buy the asset in early 2023, with the family having planned to operate the hotel with no intentions of selling the property at the time, according to Savills, which brokered the transaction. HKMU reportedly began conducting due diligence for the asset last September, according to local media accounts.

“It took one and a half years from our initial approach during the pandemic period to the completion of the transaction,” Peter Yuen, managing director of investment at Savills Hong Kong said in a release. “During the process, the buyer had temporarily walked away and was looking for other properties, but ultimately, through our persistent persuasion of both the buyer and seller, they showed goodwill and made concessions.”

HKMU had also reportedly been in discussions last year to acquire the 160-key Hotel Ease in Kwai Chung for HK$430 million from the family of the late Hong Kong real estate tycoon Tang Shing-bor, with that deal having failed to materialise.

More Students, Fewer Tourists

The influx of mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong comes after the city’s chief executive John Lee in October doubled the admission quota for non-local students, including mainlanders, from 20 percent to 40 percent. Mainlanders accounted for around 70 percent of non-local undergraduate students in the 2022-2023 school year, up from 50 percent six years ago, according to statistics from the University Grants Committee.

With Hong Kong’s tourist levels yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, institutional investors have been acquiring hospitality assets for conversion to student housing or living facilities. About 18 million visitors arrived in Hong Kong in the first five months of 2024, representing a 77.8 percent year-on-year increase but still 30.3 percent lower than during the same period in 2018.

In 2022, local developer Wang On Properties and US private equity firm Angelo Gordon acquired the 695-key Pentahotel in Kowloon East from New World Development for $260 million, with the property having been converted to a student housing facility operated under Wang On’s Sunny House co-living brand.

That deal came a year after Boston-based fund manager AEW Capital Management and local developer Crystal Investment teamed up to buy the 388-key Hotel Sav for $210 million, with that property rebranded as the Y83 facility operated by local student housing provider Y.X. Y83 is the largest private student accommodation provider in Hong Kong by number of beds and has recorded an annual rental growth rate of over 10 percent since 2022, according to JLL.

Both Sunny House and Y83 are available to be leased by HKMU’s non-local students as part of the university’s collaboration with student housing operators to provide off-campus housing.

Last month, the investment arm of local property agency Centaline disclosed plans to invest in student housing projects that will provide 2,000 beds over the next two to three years.

Supply Shortage

JLL estimates the number of non-local students opting for private accommodation in Hong Kong will reach 59,500 by the 2027-2028 academic year, resulting in a shortage of 22,300 beds. The supply-demand imbalance has resulted in occupancy rates of 98 percent to 100 percent, with each leasable space commanding monthly rents ranging from HK$5,200 to HK$14,800 and annual rental growth of as much as 15 percent.

“We observed that the rents of private student accommodation are soaring at an accelerated pace in the last 12 months and reached 15 percent (annual growth rate), the highest,” Oscar Chan, head of capital markets at JLL in Hong Kong said in a March report. “The rents of private student accommodation are expected to grow further as the demand for student accommodation is currently underserved and the population of non-local students is growing rapidly. Private student accommodation will be a new investment property asset.”

The consultancy estimates that the capital expenditure required to convert a 600-key hotel into student accommodation with communal and individual study areas, smart access controls, and recreational and wellness facilities is around HK$300 million, equivalent to HK$2,000 per square foot or HK$233,000 per leasable space.