$1.4 million Hong Kong apartment offered in vaccination lottery

The 449 square foot Grand Central apartment facing the Kowloon Peak is the biggest prize to induce the vaccination rate

In an effort to encourage Hong Kong’s residents to take up the COVID-19 vaccine, an HKD10.8 million (USD1.4 million) apartment developed by one of the city’s largest property developers is offered in the vaccination lottery, reported South China Morning Post.  

The property is a single room flat at Sino Land’s Grand Central project in Kwun Tong on the eastern side of Kowloon. In the 1950s, the area was formerly an important industrial hub, but it has now evolved into a district crowded with restaurants, cafes, lifestyle shops, and premium commercial buildings.  

The apartment is considered the biggest magnet in the vaccination lottery valued at more than HKD120 million. So far, the bag of goodies includes a Tesla, a diamond-studded Rolex, and 300 taels of pure gold, offered by several of Hong Kong’s largest real estate developers, billionaires, charities, and other individuals.  

Thomas Lam, executive director at Knight Frank, said, “Grand Central is located next to the MTR station in Kwun Tong, part of the Kwun Tong Redevelopment Plan, the largest such plan ever mapped out by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). It is really coming up as a cool neighborhood.” 

More: Hong Kong’s booming luxury housing market could snap up ‘Jardine’s Lookout’

The Grand Central apartment for the lucky draw is co-sponsored by Chinese Estates Holdings and the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation. The sponsors will foot the transaction costs, stamp duty, and the first year’s management fee at a rate of HKD4 per square foot per month. Alternatively, Lam said the winner could hold it as an investment or lease it for more than HKD200,000 of rental income annually. 

Registration for the luxury flat lottery will open at 9 am on June 15 and will end on or before September 1. More people have booked vaccination since the promotions started, with 38,089 applicants on June 10, triple the level in mid-May.