Savills Officially Established in Wuhan

On June 21, the grand opening ceremony of Savills Wuhan, a world leading British real estate adviser, was held at CITIC Square, making it the 15th Savills office in China. The opening also indicates a solid step towards the interior of Mainland China for Savills. In the future, Savills will take root in Wuhan and help further the urban development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Ye Xiaofei, Deputy Director of Jiang'an District, Wuhan, Zhang Weizhong, District Government Office Deputy Director, Qiu Yanping, Deputy Investment Director of Jiang'an District, Martin Walley, Deputy Consul-General of British Consulate-General in Wuhan, Chris Butland, Trade and Investment Consul, senior leaders at Savills and more than 30 media outlets witnessed the opening ceremony.

Wuhan, a Glimpse of China’s Economic Pulse

Wuhan—China’s "New First-line" city—has long been known as the "Thoroughfare of Nine Provinces" and has become an important hub connecting the urban centres north and south of the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River Basin endows Wuhan with abundant economic resources, superior educational resources and a concentrated electronic information industry. As a pilot city of the “Made in China 2025” initiative, Wuhan is the new gateway to China’s economy. Savills has been operating in the Chinese market for more than 20 years and will now utilise its real estate advisory expertise to boost Wuhan’s economic development.

Ye Xiaofei, Deputy Director of Jiang’an District, Wuhan, has great expectations for Savills establishing an office in Wuhan. She said that Wuhan is an important stop for the "Belt and Road" initiative and had grown into a city full of energy, rich resources, diversified economic development and great potential; Jiang’an District is best of the best. The in-depth strategic cooperation between Jiang’an District and Savills will create a promising blueprint for the urban development of Wuhan.

Wuhan + UK: Entering a Golden Age

As one of the top five UK companies in China, Savills is participating in the development of Wuhan to promote the China-UK "Golden Age". These deep ties can be traced back 32 years ago, when Wuhan and Manchester became sister cities. With the continuous improvement of Sino-British bilateral relations, the economic and trade exchanges between Wuhan and UK have become more frequent. A series of events have demonstrated the full confidence of UK in the development of Wuhan market, including: British Prime Minister Theresa May stopping in Wuhan as the first stop of her China tour; Savills signing a cooperation agreement with the Jiang’an District government; the first flight from Wuhan to London opened; Northern Powerhouse business negotiation in Wuhan; and the Wuhan-UK Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference in London.

Martin Walley, Deputy Consul-General of the British Consulate General in Wuhan, praised the active expansion of Savills: "For the past 20 years, Savills has been committed to breaking set patterns and vigorously opening up new markets in Eurasia. It is active on the world stage, just like the Foreign & Commonwealth Office that continues to establish new diplomatic relations."

"Today, we are very pleased to see an outstanding British company open their new office in Wuhan. Wuhan's economy is developing rapidly and British companies are full of expectations for this emerging market. This year, Wuhan was selected as the first stop of British Prime Minister’s first visit to China, a true indicator of the China-UK Golden Age."

Savills Established in Hubei Capital

Since its establishment 163 years ago, Savills has set up more than 600 offices and affiliates in more than 60 countries in the UK, Continental Europe, America and the Asia-Pacific region. With a total of 35,000 employees providing comprehensive professional consulting services, property management and transactional consulting services, Savills is recognized as a market leader.

In 1995, Savills entered the Chinese market. Following Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Dalian, Shenyang, Chongqing, Xiamen, Zhuhai, Nanjing and Xian, Savills has now further expanded to Wuhan to provide service in the city and the surrounding areas of central China.

With global experience, deep local insights and support from the Chinese team, Savills strives to develop Wuhan real estate market and spares no effort to provide professional insight to the Wuhan real estate market experience as well as provide customers with one-stop, comprehensive real estate solutions including pro-planning, investment promotion, property and asset management, etc.

Robert McKellar, Executive Chairman of Savills Asia-Pacific, spoke highly of Wuhan: “Wuhan is a leader among the inland cities of China. Establishing an office in Wuhan is a milestone for Savills’ expansion in China. It shows our confidence in continued expansion in the Chinese market. With the rapid development of Savills in China in recent years, we will continue to rely on our professional capabilities and insights, and strive to become the new engine of economic growth that drives the prosperity of China’s emerging market."

Siu Wing Chu, Managing Director of Savills Central China, was very optimistic about the development of Savills Wuhan: "Savills Central China will provide comprehensive support to facilitate Savills Wuhan’s growth. Savills Wuhan has complete business lines and an elite team with insights on the local market. Combined with high-quality resources in global and domestic markets, we create value for customers in Wuhan and surrounding areas with our vast business network and professional service.”

Thomas Ng, Managing Director of Savills Wuhan, said at the opening ceremony: “Savills serves its customers and maintains social responsibility as a core tenant. For example, Savills Wuhan has vigorously promoted a green office by obtaining the LEED Gold Certification. In addition, the company’s mobile office model is also a great highlight. Flexible and convenient office models enhance collaboration and communication among employees, significantly increases the utilisation of public areas, and help establish a unique corporate culture and brand image.”

The Future of Wuhan Commercial Real Estate Market

After the successful closing of the opening ceremony, Savills held a news conference on the Wuhan real estate market and shared the latest trends and outlook.

James Macdonald, Senior Director, Head of Research, Savills China, was optimistic about the office and commercial real estate market in Wuhan: “As a populous metropolis in Central China, Wuhan’s disposable income per capita surpasses the national average. In addition, many commercial projects are under planning or construction. The expansion of commercial real estate market in Wuhan will remain highly attractive to investors in the future."

• Wuhan Office Building Market

Local Grade A office leasing demand is pushing forward the development of the Wuhan’s economy, as companies look to locate their headquarters in the city. Between the two core business districts of Jianshe Avenue and Zhongnan Zhongbei Road, there will be great volume of new supply entering the market in the next five years. Despite the strong rental demand in the past year, supply still surpasses demand which will slow and stabilise rental growth. Vacancy rates have been pushed up as new projects entered the market last year.

In the next 3-5 years, the Grade A office building market in Hankou, Wuchang and Optics Valley will develop in step. First, with the new projects entering the market, Jianshe Avenue, Hangkong Road and Wangjiadun CBD in downtown Hankou will be gradually integrated. Secondly, Erqi Binjiang Business District in Hankou, along the Yangtze River, will be further expanded and continue to lead the high-end market in Wuhan.

In Wuchang, Greenland International Finance Centre will lead the development of Central China Financial City and Binjiang Business District. In addition, as an emerging region, Optics Valley will change based on Grade B office building and office park positioning with the successive launch of Poly International Centre and Optics Valley New World T1. It will grow into a highly promising new technology and entrepreneurship business district, accelerating the demand for high-end office buildings in the region.

Shirley Fu, Director of Commercial Department of Savills Wuhan, said: “In general, Grade A office building standards in Wuhan are expected to be in line with domestic first-tier cities within the next two years. With the launch of Wuhan Heng Long Square and Hankou K11 Atelier in 2H/2019, the hardware standards, commercial support and software services of international Grade A office buildings in Wuhan will scale to new heights."

• Wuhan Retail Property Market

Wuhan has relatively high commercial area per capita and strong commercial atmosphere. More and more developers and operators at home and abroad are settling in Wuhan and new supply will reach 3.5 million square meters in the next five years. New retail formats are also expanding in Wuhan.

As the "New Retail City" for inland cities, New Retail, the blending of e-commerce and offline stores, is booming in Wuhan. In addition to the retail formats like the Tmall Smart Store, Tmall convenience stores, Koubei, Yintai, and RT-Mart, Wuhan also has new stores like Hema Xiansheng and new retail supply chain companies like Cainiao, Hema, Eleme, and others. New Retail has brought reform to Wuhan's retail industry and also become a key factor in upgrading Wuhan's urban consumption.

According to Huang Yingbo, Senior Director of Retail Savills Wuhan, “As Wuhan's retail projects continue to enter the market, online/offline formats are ‘blooming’. The retail property landscape in Wuhan will be fiercely competitive in the future. High-quality retail property talent will be in hot demand. This is a test to the ‘internal strength’ of malls in business operation and management, which will directly affect the long-term stability and prosperity of retail projects."