The US-based firm is set to rent space in Cheung Kong Center II as the Central district leads office rental market recovery in the city

US investment firm Susquehanna International Group has agreed to lease more than 4,808 square metres (51,762 square feet) of office space at the Cheung Kong Center II , a prime office skyscraper developed by CK Asset Holdings in Hong Kong’s main business zone of Central, according to market sources.

Neither Susquehanna nor CK Asset immediately replied to the South China Morning Post’s requests for comments.

The new space would span three floors of the property, according to the sources.

Susquehanna’s current listed address in Hong Kong is at the AIA Central on Connaught Road Central, close to Cheung Kong Center II on Harcourt Road.

The group moved to its current address in 2021, leaving Three Garden Road , also in Central, “with a significant cost savings”.

Hong Kong’s office property market is currently seeing a gradual recovery with Central leading the upswing, according to analysts, with one citing the record-setting lease by trading firm Jane Street in the district last year as an example.

“We are seeing increasing demand from financial institutions such as Jane Street for high-quality office space in Central as it remains Hong Kong’s premier business district,” a property agent said.

Vacancy rates in the central business district fell to 10.2 per cent as of the end of the second quarter from 14.5 per cent a year ago, on sustained occupier demand, data tracked by the property consultancy showed. As of August, empty office spaces in the district further declined to 10 per cent, the agency said.

Meanwhile, rents in Central rose 1.9 per cent quarter on quarter, it added.

“Central remains the preferred location for many finance, asset management and wealth management firms because of its concentration of capital markets activity, clients, professional services and talent, creating a unique ecosystem,” the agent said.

In the second half of the year, the agency forecast that despite a completion of about 111,484 square metres (1.2 million square feet) of new office supply, broad-based office rental corrections were unlikely as “the market has largely priced in the new supply.”

The agency also upgraded its forecast for Central and Admiralty rents to an increase of 10 per cent this year.