Business centres in Hong Kong: what they cost, and what you get

A private office in a Hong Kong business centre runs about HK$5,000 per desk a month, most of them between HK$4,000 and HK$6,500. That comes from 3,650 real quotes across 22 districts, not from advertised rates.

A business centre is a fully serviced, ready to use office: private lockable suites, meeting rooms, reception, IT and a business address, on flexible monthly terms instead of a multi-year lease.

You sign a short term, usually three to twelve months, rather than committing to two years and fitting the space out yourself. It suits small and medium firms, regional headquarters and professional services practices that want privacy and a credible Hong Kong address without the cost and the lock-in of a conventional office.

From 3,650 real quotes across 22 districts. The median, and the middle half of quotes, per month.

Team sizeMedianMiddle 50% of quotes1 to 2 desksHK$10,000HK$7,110 to 13,5003 to 5 desksHK$18,000HK$14,500 to 24,3706 to 10 desksHK$39,000HK$28,170 to 51,00011 to 20 desksHK$55,000HK$39,000 to 78,000

Per desk that is about HK$5,000 a month, and it falls as the team grows.

District is the biggest lever on price. Central and Admiralty are the prestige core and the top of the market. Sheung Wan, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay give a central Island address at a better rate. Kwun Tong is the value choice for comparable, newer space. Tsim Sha Tsui sits between the two, with the harbour.

DistrictPer desk, per monthAgainst CentralCentralHK$6,750the benchmarkTsim Sha TsuiHK$4,40035% belowKwun TongHK$3,02055% below

The price index has all 28 districts, updated monthly.

A business centre and a serviced office are the same thing under two names: your own private, staffed office with a business address, led by privacy and image. Coworking is shared, open plan, taken by the desk, led by cost and flexibility. A private office is an enclosed room, which may sit inside either.

Many buildings offer all three, so the real question is how much privacy you need and what you will pay for it. Under five people and price led, look at coworking first. Five and up, or client facing, and the private suite usually wins on the second visit.

A private lockable suite, plus reception, meeting rooms, IT, utilities, cleaning and a business address, in one monthly price. In practice that covers everything an office needs to open on the Monday: furniture, a staffed front desk, internet, power, air conditioning in office hours, cleaning, mail handling, and an allowance of meeting room time.

What is usually extra, and worth asking about before you sign: parking, dedicated bandwidth or a fixed IP, air conditioning outside office hours, meeting room time beyond the allowance, printing above a page count, and any change to the room itself. None is large on its own. Together they are the difference between a quoted rate and what you actually pay, which is the reason to have somebody read the schedule with you.

Most Hong Kong business centres will write three, six or twelve months, and the rate improves with the term: twelve months is usually five to ten per cent better than three for the same room. A deposit of one or two months is standard, against three to six on a conventional lease, and a set-up fee of a few thousand dollars is common.

Notice is the clause people forget. Two months is typical, and it usually runs from the end of a month rather than from the day you give it, so a decision made mid-month can cost an extra one. Ask what happens if your team grows before the term ends: most operators will move you to a larger suite in the same building rather than lose you, and agreeing that at the start costs nothing.

It suits a team of two to twenty that wants its own door, a credible address and no capital outlay. It suits a regional headquarters that needs to be running this month rather than next quarter. It suits a professional services firm whose clients visit, because a staffed reception and a real meeting room are the difference between a practice and a desk.

It suits you less well if you are one or two people who never meet clients, where a coworking desk costs a third as much, or if you are past forty people, where the per-desk premium stops being worth the services and a floor of your own becomes cheaper every year you stay in it. See enterprise office space for where that crossover falls.

Four things, roughly in order. District moves it most: the same room is more than twice the price in Central as in Kwun Tong. The building is next, and within one operator the gap between a Grade A tower and a good older building is around thirty per cent. The room itself matters more than its size: an internal room with no window is materially cheaper than the one beside it with a harbour view. The month you sign matters more than most people expect, because an operator with empty rooms at the end of a quarter will move on rate in a way they will not in a full month.

What does not move it much: the brand. Across our quotes, the same specification from a global operator and a well-run local one lands within a few hundred dollars per desk. You are mostly paying for the address and the floor, not the logo on the wall.

Central and Admiralty are the prestige core: the address a client recognises, at the top of the market. Sheung Wan and Wan Chai give you a central Island address one stop away at a noticeably better rate, and both have a lot of newer stock. Causeway Bay is priced between them and has the best transport in the city.

Across the harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui offers the view and a five-minute run to Central. Kwun Tong and Kowloon East are where the arithmetic changes: newer buildings, larger floor plates, about 55 per cent below Central per desk. Quarry Bay and Taikoo sit in between and suit a team that wants Island side without the Central premium.

Yes. The American spelling is the same product; Hong Kong operators use both on their own websites. Everything on this page applies to either.