A Hong Kong businessman and deputy to China’s legislature has acquired a hotel at a third less than the price paid by the previous owner, betting on the long-term resilience of the city’s tourism sector.

Twenty One Whitfield hotel in Tin Hau changed hands for HK$268 million (US$34.7 million) on Monday, Land Registry records showed. Bunny Chan Chung-bun and Paggy Chan Pik-kei are the registered directors of the buyer, Huge Fame Limited, according to the Companies Registry.

Bunny Chan is one of Hong Kong’s representatives to the National People’s Congress and also an independent non-executive director of railway MTR Corp.

“With policy support from Beijing, I am very confident in Hong Kong’s economy in the long run,” Chan told the Post in a phone call on Wednesday, adding that the recovery would take some time.

Investors have been snapping up hotels, taking advantage of the huge discounts and converting them into student housing after the government pledged to turn the city into an international hub for education.

Chan said he was open to the idea of converting the hotel into student housing after taking formal ownership.

Chan also said he will consider additional investments in hotels, offices and commercial buildings provided the location and price are to his liking. He said he will continue to monitor the property market, noting that the “interest rate trend had not yet stabilised”.

The 32-storey hotel, with views of Victoria Harbour, has a total of 54 rooms. Based on the transaction price, the cost of each room works out to about HK$5 million.

The hotel was under receivership after the previous owner, a Taiwan-based consortium, failed to settle a loan taken in 2019. The consortium bought the hotel in 2014 for HK$395 million, according to data from the Land Registry. Based on the transaction price, the sellers have incurred a 32 per cent loss.

Property consultancy Colliers estimates that by 2028, 175,000 student beds will be needed in Hong Kong versus an estimated supply of 55,000 beds. Currently, there are nine en-bloc private student accommodation projects offering 2,848 beds. Next year, new supply is expected to add some 2,000 beds.

In September, Centaline Group said it would convert the 63-room Popway Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui into 150 beds for student rentals. Hong Kong’s biggest property agency paid HK$180 million – 53 per cent less than the asking price – when the asset was put up for sale by auction last year.

Crystal Investment, which owns Y.X, the largest student accommodation provider in Hong Kong, acquired Hotel Ease in Lai Chi Kok from the family of the late “Shop King” Tang Shing-bor for HK$220 million in April.

In January, global investment firm PGIM partnered with Dash Living to buy the 56-room Ovolo Sheung Wan hotel for HK$320 million, with the aim of turning it into co-living accommodation for short and long-term stays.

Salina Li