Office space in Tai Koo, Hong Kong

Tai Koo is one planned development rather than a neighbourhood that grew. Swire built Taikoo Shing on the site of the old Taikoo Dockyard: 61 residential towers and 12,690 flats, home to 34,799 people at the 2021 census. The homes, the mall, the schools and the offices were drawn up together.

The offices are two Grade A towers over the shops. 1111 King's Road holds 21 office floors and about 629,000 square feet. 12 Taikoo Wan Road runs to 22 storeys, with about 554,000 square feet. Both look over the harbour and Quarry Bay Park, and the occupiers include Hewlett Packard and AT&T at 1111 King's Road.

Underneath sits Cityplaza, roughly 170 shops joined straight to the station. It holds the largest real ice rink on Hong Kong Island and a six screen cinema that opened in December 2017. Lunch, a haircut and the school run all happen without leaving the block.

Tai Koo station is on the Island line. 1111 King's Road is 250 metres from it, about three minutes through the mall, and 12 Taikoo Wan Road is 480 metres, about six.

Central is eight stops west with no change of line, and Admiralty is seven. Quarry Bay, one stop west, is where the Island and Tseung Kwan O lines cross, so Kowloon East is a single change away. For the airport, ride to Central and take the subway to Hong Kong station. The Airport Express takes 24 minutes from there.

A short commute is the first benefit. Taikoo Shing alone housed 34,799 people at the 2021 census, and the estates either side add more, so a team that already lives on this side of the island keeps its mornings.

The towers are the second. Both are Grade A, both look across the harbour to Kowloon, and one person starts at around HK$3,306.

The mall is the third. Roughly 170 shops, restaurants and a cinema sit directly under the offices, and the station is reached under cover.

And Quarry Bay is one stop west, so the banks, insurers and technology firms of Taikoo Place are four minutes away without their rents.

Distance is the first trade. Tai Koo is eight stops from Central, and clients will not drop in on their way somewhere else. If your week runs on visitors, that ride will set the tone of it.

The second is choice. Two centres means two quotes and no more, so the negotiation leans on the term you offer rather than on a rival building.

Quarry Bay is one stop west, and Tai Koo's listings also appear on its page. Seven centres in and around Taikoo Place, with one person from HK$3,100 against about HK$3,306 here. It is the bigger office market; Tai Koo answers with the mall underneath and the harbour view.

North Point is two stops west. One tower, AIA Tower, two minutes from Fortress Hill station, with one person at HK$6,400 and suites up to thirty people.

Shau Kei Wan is two stops east, where one centre opens at HK$3,750 for one person and serves the far east of the island.

Hong Kong East has not joined the 2026 recovery. Market reports put Grade A vacancy here at 13.0% at the end of July 2026, against 8.0% in Central and 12.8% across the city. At the end of March it had been 12.7%, so vacancy here rose while the city's fell.

Ownership has moved too. A consortium led by Gaw Capital bought 1111 King's Road from Swire Properties in November 2020 for about US$1.27 billion. For a tenant, this is the soft end of the market right now.