An evaluation on the effectiveness of large scale renovation projects to the success of shopping centers in Hong Kong

Abstract

It is a prevailing trend that renovation works have be carried out in many shopping centers in Hong Kong, especially those regional shopping centers being constructed and completed in the 1990s.

Buildings will be depreciated as they are assets. Refurbishment or renovation of a building can therefore rejuvenate the building and even enhance its market value. The physical structures and facilities can be improved. Therefore, many shopping centers' Landlord or Property Manager would consider renovation of their portfolio as a solution to solve the problem of depreciation and in turn to enhance the property value and its rental return. It is common to have examples of renovation of shopping centers recently in Hong Kong, for example, APM and the Moko which are developed by the Sun Hung Kai Properties, Pacific Place which is developed by the Swire Properties, and Times Square which is developed by the Wharf (Holdings) Limited.

As retail properties are an opened market, it is easy to imagine that those shopping centers with renovation works being commenced recently must be in advantage when they are competing with those without any renovation works being carried out. To make the situation of shopping centers without renovation worse, Hong Kong is situated with shopping centers and it is a small city with a very convenient public transport system, the opportunity cost for shoppers to visit shopping centers in different locations is small.

However, according to the data on the rental return of Festival Walk, a well-known regional shopping center in Hong Kong without any renovation works commenced, its rental revenue increased yearly.

Therefore, this thesis researches on the effectiveness of renovation works on the success of shopping centers and the alternatives methods which shopping centers without renovation works used in order to maintain their competiveness.

Through compare and contrast between shopping centers with renovation works and those without renovation works, it is concluded that the effectiveness of renovation works on shopping centers is low, as these two categories shows similar pattern in both their yearly occupancy rate and gross rental revenue.

In the second part of this thesis, analysis on the survey with target groups as shoppers and tenants of Festival Walk is carried out. Through the analysis of data, it is found that the facilities of shopping centers being provided is not their top priority when choosing between shopping centers to visit and factors which affect the sales turnover rate respectively. In contrast, the degree of tenant mix, provision of anchor tenants and organization of marketing and promotional events are the most influential factor on shoppers and tenants.

This thesis shows that the high effectiveness of renovation works in maximizing the shopping centers' rental return is only an illusion. As renovation works is a costly decision, this paper gives insight to the developers that they can consider other less costly methods, such as attracting more different potential tenants, when they wish to enhance their rental revenue.