The auction house has signed a lease in the upcoming Henderson tower, in a move that reflects ever-increasing sales in Asia
International auction house Christie’s announced the opening of a new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong in 2024, becoming its first year-round salesroom in Asia. The new HQ will occupy four of the 36 stories in The Henderson, an upcoming commercial development designed by Zaha Hadid in the Central district slated to be completed in 2023. Christie’s has signed a 10-year lease on the space, and is the first anchor tenant of the tower.
The 4,645 square-metre venue will allow Christie’s to host in-house auctions and private sales throughout the year, boosting the auction house’s Hong Kong schedule which currently has two auction seasons in May and November held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. According to Francis Belin, president of Christie’s Asia-Pacific division, the establishment of the first headquarters in Asia will offer ‘opportunities for greater creativity and innovation’.
The decision comes after the auction house recorded major sales in Asia in the first half of 2021, with Asian spending reported at $1bn, a record 39 percent of Christie’s worldwide sales. Asked about Beijing’s increasing political control over Hong Kong and concerns of censorship brought by the National Security Law, Belin said he remained confident in Hong Kong’s ‘unique positioning as Asia’s world city’. ‘It took decades to build the vibrancy and depth of Hong Kong as the centre of the Asian art market,’ he added; ‘we are confident that we will remain agile and competitive going forward.’
