Hong Kong\'s Latest Space-Saving Idea: A Floating Cemetery

HONG KONG - You only need to look at Hong Kong's mind-boggling skyline to realize that the city's property market is very, very unusual: Tightly packed skyscrapers are silhouetted against a mountainous backdrop; pencil-thin high-rises make the most of scarce land; land reclamations have realigned the very coastline.

The result: some of the highest property prices and rents in the world. Want to rent an office in the central business district? That will set you back nearly twice as much as in the City of London, according to research by the real estate services firm CBRE.

Small wonder then that a small architecture firm, Bread Studio, has proposed a floating cemetery that would not only come with great feng shui but also avoid encroaching on precious land. (More on this project in my piece here.)

One of the reasons space is at such a premium is that Hong Kong is a key gateway to China. Many businesses feel they absolutely have to have a presence here.

< p>Last Christmas, CBRE's Hong Kong office produced this delightful tongue-in-cheek media report, which explains the city's attraction to overseas businesses. The world's leading toy distributor, Santa Claus Enterprises, CBRE said, has moved to Hong Kong to take advantage of the lucrative mainland Chinese market and locate its base of operations closer to the major toy sourcing region of the Pearl River Delta.

An accompanying news release said that “after an extensive review of existing business operations and a detailed search of the Asia Pacific Market, Hong Kong has proved best fit to secure further growth for one of the world's oldest and best known international gift delivery services.”

And because the chairman and chief executive drives a hard bargain, the news release said, he did not sign off on the lease for his company's new office space until the landlord had “agreed to install rooftop reindeer parking at considerable cost.”