George HONGCHOY
Executive Director & Group Chief Executive Officer
Link has come of age in the two decades since its inception as a Hong Kong Stock Exchange newbie listing. If it was a person, it would now be an adult ready to take on the world. Yet Link is special: born in the spotlight as a larger-than-life star with so many moving parts, it was bound to encounter intense scrutiny from day one. Its childhood was turbulent due to many disadvantages: it inherited poorly managed and maintained properties; it encountered resistance to its commercial endeavours; and it faced entrenched stakeholders unwilling to relinquish the status quo.
Like any celebrity, its opponents, dissidents and the general public gleefully dissected and magnified Link’s every step along its rocky road to maturity. Far from perfect, Link knows it still has a lot to learn — and its fearlessness is the very reason it is high time to take stock.
As Link celebrates 20 years young in 2025, pausing for a breather is George Hongchoy. With his background in finance, banking and real estate investment, George is well equipped to know when to take action and when to hold back while steering Link’s maturation. As a parent himself, he understands that the most difficult lessons are the ones that make Link stronger.
Serendipity connected George with Link in 2008 in the form of a headhunter with a post for Chief Financial Officer on the table. A banker at the time, he was concerned about the global financial crisis and how it might affect Hong Kong: the job presented an exit from the industry where he forged his career path.
“I was called to interview with then chair Nick Sallnow-Smith, a former client,” George recalls. “Although my interview took place at Link’s Central office when it was in 9 Queen’s Road Central at the time, we were expected to work on top of a car park in Wong Tai Sin (Link’s former headquarters). Some of the best candidates dropped out because they never wanted to leave Central.” He continued with a chuckle, “I might be the last man standing because I was fine with working in a not so glamorous office.”
When George first joined Link, there were a number of practices carried over from when assets were managed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA). From people, software, process and procedures, operating standards, financing to strategy, everything required wholesale change and upgrade. George played a pivotal role in setting priorities for execution over 15 years.
What he had in mind for Link made an impression upon the board. Within a year after he joined, George was appointed as CEO. A 90-day plan was one of his first tasks. “Most of what we wanted to achieve dealt with people— there was little about real estate or investment,” he remembers. “The meeting summarised my job over the past 15 years: it’s been about how to motivate different people to execute Link’s strategy.”
There is no typical day for George, yet he enthusiastically feels that “every day presents new ideas that have the potential to be carried forward to millions of people who use our properties. I am always thinking about how to make their interactions better. Maybe it’s physical, through brighter lights or outdoor areas with more shade. In the early days, I was very involved with enhancements—well, I’m told I have a good eye for colour!”
George is the first to admit that Link’s difficult birth continues to cast a long shadow over public perception of the brand. “In a nanosecond, we went from being Hong Kong government-owned and operated shopping malls to being a private corporation facing immediate listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with intense focus on investor return,” he recalls. “Nobody was prepared. The initial public offering (IPO) was done in such a rush and controversy that we only had titles for half of our assets; the Lands Department and HA were still writing leases for the other half. As the government continued to own and operate its public housing estates, it came up with the raindrop rule for property delineation: if it rains, the dry part under the canopies is Link’s responsibility while the wet part is HA’s. In reality, this meant we owned the shop fronts but not the common areas immediately before them.”
Link was the government’s first experiment putting up an entire portfolio of real estate assets, with 100% sold on the first day of its IPO launch. Then, a leadership team was assembled to oversee Link’s management; each person offered a different opinion for what Link was and should achieve. “Many had no experience with grassroots communities where all of our assets were imbedded at the time,” George explains. “The government did little to prepare the public that Link was going to be a commercial entity answerable to its investors. Since the transfer of asset ownership took place so quickly due to the IPO, there was an internal misunderstanding of what value we could bring to the public compared to when the assets were government-owned. All these hurdles led to Link being misunderstood by virtually everyone. It took a long time for people to trust us and recognise our financial prospects, as well as how we could positively impacted their daily lives —which dampened our confidence. But the silver lining was our potential.”
When the excitement associated with Link’s successful IPO listing subsided, its assets were scrutinised under the harsh light of day. Decades-old properties were revealed to be poorly managed and dilapidated, with few renovated —or properly maintained —since they first opened. Some retailers were entrenched for decades without any oversight or support, and sub-let of spaces was a common practice. Market stalls opened and shuttered depending on the whim of proprietors, who charged whatever they wanted for products and services. The emphasis on housing units for the disadvantaged relegated many equally pressing issues onto the back burner, including the fact that estates were much more than roofs over people’s heads. The majority were self-contained communities with schools, services and retail centres that require continual maintenance and management just like common areas in estates. When residents who lived above a complex choose to go somewhere else —anywhere else —for their daily essentials, it spotlights the chasm between what was provided and what people wanted and needed. We all need our third space to meet, play, reflect or simply hang in safe and welcoming surrounds. It was clear that most assets in Link’s initial portfolio no longer served the people they were intended for.
After assessing what required immediate attention, Link began upgrading with entire complexes gutted and brought up to contemporary building standards. One change that took time was simple yet impactful. When George first joined Link, the interior temperature of many assets was kept cold, contrasting sharply in the summer with hot and humid exterior air temperatures. The frosty environs may adversely impact seniors, children and other people more vulnerable to chills. After user feedback analysis, Link had the standard temperature within malls adjusted to promote optimal user and tenant comfort. Temperature tweaks were just the first of a series of evolutions rolled out across properties. Accumulated over the years, a clear picture of what Link could be emerged; it comes into sharper focus with each passing day. The scale of its portfolio and its responsibilities to a myriad of people each with different agendas mean that upgrades will always be a constant and reiterative process. “My being here over an extended period helped us plan concepts that take five, 10 or 15 years to execute and mature,” George explains.
Over time, Link got bolder: it began repositioning assets simultaneously as it renovated. Temple Mall in Wong Tai Sin is a classic example of leaning into the site’s heritage for themed aesthetics. Two shopping centres merged into one and robustly rebranded through graphics. This concept was then applied to other properties such as H.A.N.D.S. in Tuen Mun, spawning its immediate popularity. Yet George is most proud of Link’s Fresh Markets, which replaced the dingy and depressing produce stalls common to housing estate wet markets.
“Tai Yuen in Tai Po and Lok Fu Market were our earliest prototypes,” states George. “We studied our favourite markets around the world and learned from the French that red light on meat makes it look more appealing, and markets in Barcelona for their layouts. Our tenants taught us the ideal height for a chopping block to portion meat. The colour explosion of fruit and flower stalls near entrances gets shoppers excited right away, something known as the supermarket/casino effect. We put the fishmongers near the loading bay so wet containers won’t be dragged around spilling water everywhere. Since we are a private company, we can push new ideas. Our experience with experimenting lets us roll out tried and tested formulas for what works. The more renovations we successfully completed, the more positivity we can show to those considering switching to lease space with us. As we continue to evolve, I can confidently state that no other Hong Kong company manages assets like us. I’m happy to see that fresh produce markets in Chinese Mainland have begun rolling out our design and operation concepts.”
Today, with more than 100 asset enhancement projects successfully completed, Link is welcomed by residents with personal stories of what can be achieved when shared purpose and dedication join hands. “I want Link to be known as a world class real estate manager,” says George. “But more importantly, I want to improve the life of those around us—which can mean many things to different people. And I want to be surrounded by colleagues who consciously or unconsciously deliver this corporate vision.”
Unlike competing Hong Kong developers who can leverage profits through the sale of residential units within the same mix-use complex, Link must rigorously balance its books because it primarily owns community-based non-discretionary retail assets. That is why having the right people on board as asset managers is critical to every win. Link’s expansion into Chinese Mainland, Singapore and Australia rests upon its reputation for outstanding asset management. While it has built properties from scratch, Link’s strength is efficient operations of commercial spaces to deliver attractive returns for everyone involved.
Attractive returns are always tempered by George’s people first approach: the people it serves and the people who service them are paramount. If the health and safety of staff members or users are perceived to be in jeopardy, it is a no brainer that lives matter more than profits. During the 2019 civil unrest that gripped the city, rumours floated that a large protest was to take place in Wong Tai Sin. The MTR Corporation notified Link that it was closing Wong Tai Sin station. After observing protesters wielding signs on site the morning of the protest, Managing Director – Property & Car Park Management (HK) William Lai made the critical decision to close Temple Mall. No other privately-owned or operated shopping mall closed during the violence that rocked the city for half a year. Link was the only one.
While tenants were closing shop within the two hours notice window, George saw via real time feeds that a bakery on the top floor of Temple Mall had a day’s worth of bread fresh out of its ovens. He knew the proprietor would not be able to sell any of it: a heavy financial loss for a mom and pop business. Dipping into his personal funds, George instructed William—who was still in Temple Mall—to buy up all the pastries and distribute them to frontline staff and service providers including the security guards tasked with manning the property. George knew that anyone who remained on site was at risk. His offering was a token of appreciation for those caught up in circumstances beyond their control. As usual, he was paying it forward.
“Being world class means we do things that are comparable to the best in the world, not just in Hong Kong. That’s the standard we aspire to. We are owners and managers. We take pride in ownership and adopt an attitude of responsibility whether we own or manage. And we never fall into the trap of assuming that if we build it, they will come. Link holds this promise to the people we serve: what we build fits their future.”
