Office space in Kennedy Town, Hong Kong

Kennedy Town had no railway at all until 28 December 2014, when the Island line was extended west. Before that it was vehicle repair workshops, seafood dealers and an abattoir that closed in 1999. The offices and restaurants arrived after the station, not before.

Catchick Street, Davis Street and Forbes Street now hold the restaurants and bars. Above them the district is still mostly flats. Mount Davis rises behind and Lung Fu Shan behind that, so the district grew along the shore at Belcher Bay instead of inland, looking across to Stonecutters Island.

All three centres belong to The Hive: The Hive at On Seven and The Hive at Studios by Kennedy Town station, and The Hive Kennedy Town nearer HKU. The University of Hong Kong sits on the hill one stop east, and that shapes the working population: academic spinouts, small technology and design teams, and international firms whose staff live in the west.

Kennedy Town station is the western terminus of the Island line. Central is four stops east with no change, through HKU, Sai Ying Pun and Sheung Wan.

On Seven and Studios are both 100 metres from the station, a minute on foot. The Hive Kennedy Town is 570 metres from HKU station, about seven minutes.

For the airport, ride to Central, walk the subway with moving walkways to Hong Kong station, and take the Airport Express.

The commute is the first gain. Kennedy Town, Sai Ying Pun, Shek Tong Tsui and Pok Fu Lam are all a short walk or one stop away, so a team that lives in the western district gets minutes to work instead of a harbour crossing.

It is easy to start small. All three centres sell coworking space from about HK$3,600 a month per person, so two people can begin on desks and move into a room without changing address.

The University of Hong Kong is one stop east, close enough for spinout teams to keep their labs and supervisors within walking distance. And the restaurant streets are two minutes from the office, so lunch is a neighbourhood affair.

This is a residential neighbourhood with offices in it, not an office district. There is no landmark tower, the addresses are streets rather than names clients know, and a visitor from Central rides to the end of the line to reach you.

Choice is narrow too. Three centres from a single operator means little to compare inside the district, so it pays to price Sheung Wan or Sai Ying Pun at the same time.

Sai Ying Pun is two stops east. One centre, the Hive at Poho on New Street, at around HK$4,690 for one person, and that listing also appears on this page. It suits a team that wants a four storey building with its own terrace.

Sheung Wan is three stops east. Nine centres and the lowest entry price on the north shore at HK$2,400 for one person. It wins on price and choice, and what Kennedy Town offers instead is the short walk home.

Central is four stops east, the benchmark address. One person starts at HK$3,000 there, and a room for four averages around HK$23,105, roughly double the HK$10,668 entry point here.

The district's change has a fixed date, which is rare for Hong Kong. The Island line reached Kennedy Town on 28 December 2014, and the offices, restaurants and bars followed the station.

The wider market turned in 2026. Market reports recorded Hong Kong Island office rents up 5.5% over the year to June 2026, the first annual growth since the second half of 2021, on net absorption of 861,000 square feet. The same research counted 16,014 registered non Hong Kong companies at the end of June 2026, an all time high and 3.3% more than a year earlier.