Hong Kong‘s international airport will have an art storage facility that will open later this year or early next year, reports the South China Morning Post.
The temperature-controlled facility will be part of a “comprehensive system for family offices” in the city, according to Jason Fong, the global head of family office at InvestHK. InvestHK is a government department responsible for foreign direct investment.
News of the art storage facility was first unveiled by Chief Executive John Le Ka-Chiu in October 2022, as part of eight measures meant to attract at least 200 large family offices by the end of this year. The facility is the last of the eight measures unveiled more than two years ago to be implemented by the government, forming a part of a comprehensive ecosystem for family offices to set up in Hong Kong, Fong said.
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“Many wealthy families have collected art to establish their family legacy,” Fong told the South China Morning Post. “This will allow them to store their collection in a secure and temperature-controlled facility.”
Lok Yim, regional head of global private banking for Asia-Pacific at HSBC, said a comprehensive art-storage facility with accessible, high-quality art logistics services near the airport was important to elevating Hong Kong to becoming a top-tier art hub globally.
“The initiatives will further solidify Hong Kong’s position as a leading hub for both family offices and the arts,” Yim told the South China Morning Post. “Expanding modern storage capabilities not only supports art financing but also enables family offices to manage high-value art collections more effectively.”
In January, the Airport Authority Hong Kong announced an airport city with the brand “Skytopia.” In addition to the standalone art storage facility, it will include a marina with a capacity of 500 berths, hotels, markets, and an indoor performance venue for 20,000 people.
While there are other art storage providers in Hong Kong, Fong those facilities inadequate.
“Overseas buyers can fly to Hong Kong to inspect art at the airport-storage facility, negotiate a deal with the sellers and take it back with them,” Fong told the South China Morning Post. “A deal could be done within hours, which will enhance Hong Kong’s role as an art-trading centre. High security and a comfortable environment, combined with the ability of our airport to handle special cargo safely and efficiently, will be reassuring for global art collectors.”
Hong Kong had a 50 percent increase in art trading in 2022, according to the most recent Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting report. Imports of art and antiques into the Asian city grew to a record US$30.7 billion in 2022. By comparison, exports rose to US$33.4 billion, the second-highest level.
The Art Basel and UBS report also said that 69 percent of individuals in the city with investible assets of $1 million or more purchased new works.
“Together with Art Basel, our projects underscore Hong Kong’s role as a global cultural hub, where tradition meets modernity and local stories resonate globally,” Amy Lo Choi-wan, UBS’s Asia chairman of global wealth management, said in a speech at Art Basel Hong Kong on March 28.