Viral videos of people standing over parking spaces as a reservation are just outrageous.
They assume that they have the right to it just because they went there personally as they wait for their car to arrive. Sometimes, however, this can turn into chaos and a fight would ensue between the person and another owner of the car who simply wishes to park on the space but wasn’t allowed by the one standing on the spot.
Sad as it may seem, it could take time to find a vacant space for your car – a hassle especially when you’re late for work or just want to get things done pronto. So, what are you willing to give to get that valuable spot?
For one affluent man, he is willing to fork out an eye-popping amount just to secure a premier parking slot in Hong Kong.
In the Priciest Office Building
Yup, despite the unrest happening in the famed region, other people can still manage to shell out tons of money for the most ridiculous things.
The unnamed buyer, who is probably an enthusiastic parker, forked out a whopping $970,000 for a spot in The Center, which was touted as the the priciest building in October 2017 after its former owner, who was the richest man in Hong Kong, was able to sell it for over $5 billion.
Parking spaces are expensive in Hong Kong where prices of real estate are soaring.
The Center is also one of the highest skyscrapers in the entire city, which means buying a parking area for close to a million dollars is only logical. Specifically, the space measures 134.5 sq ft – if you do the math, a square foot is more or less $7,200. At that price, the parking space just became the most expensive in the region and may even be in the entire world!
Former Owner
Johnny Cheung Shun-yee, a famous man known for property flipping and is one of the investors of the building, was the former owner of the prime spot. He earned $115,000 in 2018 through buy-and-sell of office building floors, and now, he seems to be making huge money out of selling parking spaces. The spot, which was the last available, is not that special – it just has an alcove for easier parking.
According to Centaline Commercial managing director Stanley Poon, many owners of the spaces at The Center are in the finance field or other growth businesses – in short, tycoons. For them, the price of the parking spots is nothing compared to the floors they bought.
Two years ago, Kwan Wai-ming bought a parking slot on Hong Kong Island for a whopping $664,200 or HK$5.18 million.
Stark Contrast
Although anyone is entitled to spend their money in whatever way they want to, the recent purchase further underlines the stark contrast between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong. This gap fueled violent protests in the past months that seem nowhere near stopping.
