Beijing Offices More Expensive to Rent Than NYC's

choi

Simon Rabinovitch, Beijing Office Rents Rise Beyond New York's. Financial Times, Feb 8, 2012.

Quote:

"Hong Kong retained the top spot, followed by London, Tokyo and Moscow. New York was sixth, just behind Beijing.

"Prime office rents in Beijing's central business district rose 75 per cent last year, the fastest globally, and up from a 48 per cent increase in 2010, according to the survey.

"It now costs $130 a year for a square foot of top-grade office in Beijing, compared with $239 in London's West End and $120 in midtown Manhattan. The boom was not confined to Beijing. Prime office rents in Shanghai also jumped last year, rising 24 per cent

"Beijing plans to double the size of its central business district by 2017 in a vast eastward expansion.

"Rents have been rising in other parts of the city [Beijing], including in a high-technology zone and a financial district that are far from the central business area. There has also been a proliferation of lower-quality office space and government buildings which were not included in the survey.

"The surge in office rents in China's top cities comes as other parts of the country's property market have cooled considerably.

My comment:
(a) There is no need to read the rest.
(b) The report cites

Global Property Markets Feel the Dragon's Roar. Cushman & Wakefield, Feb 3, 2012.
http://www.cushwake.com/cwglobal ... &Country=GLOBAL
("Beijing is now more expensive than Shanghai and is the third most costly city in Asia for occupiers taking office space behind Hong Kong and Tokyo. The two fastest-rising locations in terms of rental growth in Asia Pacific after Beijing were Shanghai (27%) and Singapore (24%)")
(c) History. Cushman & Wakefield, undated.
http://www.cushwake.com/cwglobal ... BAL&Language=EN
("J Clydesdale Cushman and Bernard Wakefield founded Cushman & Wakefield as a property management company in New York City on October 31, 1917. Today it is the world's largest privately held real estate services firm")