US consulate in Hong Kong staying put on billion-dollar site – lease has about 931 years to run, anyway
Hong Kong government granted consulate a rare 999-year lease in the 1990s, it has been revealed
The US consulate in Hong Kong said on Tuesday that it had no plans to move from its current location – after it was revealed the mission likely has the longest land lease in China and could make billions of dollars from selling the site.
The Hong Kong government granted the consulate a rare 999-year lease in the 1990s and lifted restrictions at that time on selling the location on Garden Road in Central.
“We have been at our current location for decades, and we don’t have plans to relocate,” consulate spokeswoman Darragh Paradiso told the South China Morning Post.
Paradiso also noted that 2018 marked the consulate’s 175th anniversary in the city, and that “we value and remain committed to the strong and vibrant relationship between the United States and Hong Kong”.
On Monday, free-market advocate David Webb published an article on his website titled “Revealed: the USA has the longest land lease in China”. It included Land Registry documents showing that in 1999, the government of then-chief executive Tung Chee-hwa extended a lease for the consulate at 26 Garden Road to 999 years for HK$44 million (US$5.6 million).