Rich pickings: luxury district Kowloon Tong retains its quiet, ‘old-money’ charm
Neighbourhood is largely defined by its large detached houses and remains a favourite with the wealthy, offering easy access to some of the finest schools in the city
Sitting halfway between Central and the border, Kowloon Tong is an ideal “compromise” for folks who work in the city, and travel frequently to Shenzhen or Guangzhou. You can reach the end of the MTR lines in both directions in around 30 minutes, without breaking your rail journey.
Laid out in the 1920s as a leafy garden suburb based on the British housing model, Kowloon Tong evolved as an upmarket, low-density residential area favoured by wealthy industrialists. Even today, after residential high-rises have sprung up all around, the district is defined by its large detached houses and townhouses, with a sprinkling of low- and mid-rise apartments.
Just as Kowloon Tong streets bearing British names are reminders of the city’s colonial heritage, the prestigious school network, which remains one of Hong Kong’s finest, is in part a legacy of the population of British civil servants who were housed there back in the day. It includes elite institutions such as La Salle College for boys, and Maryknoll Convent School for girls. The district is also home to City University and Baptist University.
The prestigious Kowloon Tong Club was formally established on Waterloo Road in 1935 to provide residents recreational and social needs, and remains a thriving venue today. The large-scale Festival Walk retail mall, developed in the 1990s, was a precursor to the modern mega mall. Once pitched at luxury shoppers, now an upper mass-market destination, it offers some 200 retail and restaurant outlets, one of the city’s largest ice rinks and a multiscreen cinema.
Recent transaction data tracked by Knight Frank suggests that Kowloon Tong still holds appeal for certain affluent buyers. A two-storey detached house at 1 Suffolk Road, with a site area of 8,410 sq ft, sold for HK$180 million, representing an accommodation value of HK$35,671 per square foot; another two-storey house at 12 Oxford Road, with a saleable area of 4,988 sq ft, was purchased by a mainland investor at HK$195 million, or a unit price of HK$39,094 per square foot.
These deals remain eclipsed by the record-breaking HK$362.9 million, or HK$82,253 per square foot, achieved in March last year for a house at 1 Ede Road, developed by Kerry Properties.
However, David Ji, Knight Frank’s head of research and consultancy, Greater China, suggests that such transactions are not happening often. “Kowloon Tong is still one of the richest areas in Hong Kong, but it’s a district with a lower profile.”