Creditors Can't Sell Evergrande's $1.6-B Tower

Nothing symbolizes the demise of China Evergrande Group like the Hong Kong tower that it bought for a record $1.6 billion.

Photo Insert: Once a jewel in the Evergrande's crown, creditors are still trying to sell the building almost a year after seizing it without luck.

Once a jewel in the company’s crown, creditors are still trying to sell the building almost a year after seizing it without luck, Pearl Liu and Dorothy Ma reported for Bloomberg News.

Refurbishments and a name change to steer clear of the disgraced defaulter have failed to convince buyers at a time when Hong Kong’s office market is going through its worst downturn in years.

Evergrande’s financial woes even started to affect operations at the building, which sits in Hong Kong’s busy Wan Chai district. Three of its 11 elevators weren’t running because the developer had failed to pay the contractor, said Godfrey Cheng, deputy senior director at Savills (Hong Kong), an agent for the receivers.

Maintenance work has since begun, Cheng said.

That hasn’t been enough to boost the value of the tower, with the low end estimated at almost $1 billion below what Evergrande paid for it in 2015, suggesting severe losses for the company and the lenders behind the loans that it backed.

It’s also a blow to other creditors who are waiting for recovery from a debt restructuring plan, which the developer is now trying to expedite after this week revealing losses totaling $81 billion in long-delayed results, Shawna Kwan also reported for Bloomberg News.

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