Ching Yee Construction & Investment Co (正義置業)

York Lo: Ching Yee Construction & Investment Co (正義置業)

Left: advertorial for On Lok Mansion in 1962 (WKYP, 1962-9-8) Right: article about “attractive properties” available from Ching Yee in 1964 (WKYP, 1964-3-19)  

From the 1960s to the 1980s, Ching Yee Construction & Investment Co Ltd (whose name means “justice” in Chinese) was an active property developer in HK which had developed at least a dozen residential and industrial buildings in HK, Kowloon and New Territories, all with names starting with the Chinese character “On” (which means peace) and all of them are still standing. 

Ad for On Yip Factory Building in 1963 (WKYP, 1963-8-29) 

Incorporated in 1961, the founders of Ching Yee were Hsu Ve-tsin (許維楨) and Chen Yuk-lai (陳悅來). The firm operated out of Great China House in Central in the 1960s but later moved to Cheong K Building in Central. (See article about Cheong K) Not much info is available about Hsu except he was also attached to Van Fat Investment Ltd (宏發有限公司, incorporated in 1963, dissolved in 1975), another property developer which counted Cheng Kwei-sheng of Cheong Sun Co (to be covered) and Teddy Wang Teh-huei of Chinachem Group (which would later partner with Ching Yee in several projects) as shareholders (HK Government Gazette, 1969). The firm was likely responsible for the development of Van Fat Factory Building (宏發工廠大廈) at 20-22 Ng Fong Street in San Po Kong in 1967. Based on the spelling and pronunciation of his English name, Hsu was likely Shanghainese and he was one of the 69 founding members of the Real Estate Developers Association of HK in 1965. 

In 1963, Ching Yee developed the 13-story On Lok Mansion (安樂大樓) at 586-588 Queen’s Road West and the 11-story On Yip Factory Building (安業工廠大廈) on a 5390 sq ft plot at 33 Ivy Street in Tai Kok Tsui. According to news article at the time, On Lok Mansion was available for purchase with an installment plan which involved 5 years of monthly payments of $400 and down payment of $9000. (KSDN, 1963-12-30) One of the most famous tenants of On Yip Factory Building was Chuen Sun Knitting Factory, maker of the famous “555” singlets. (see article) 

In 1964, Ching Yee developed two buildings in the industrial district of San Po Kong – On Tat Factory Building (安達工廠大廈) at 3-5 Pat Tat Street and the On Luen Building (安聯樓) at 3-11 Foo Yuen Street. (WKYP, 1964-3-19) In 1965, the firm developed an unnamed 6-story industrial property at 69 Bedford Road in Tai Kok Tsui. 

In 1973, Ching Yee developed the 23-story On Tak Building (安德大廈) at Ting Yip Street in Ngau Tau Kok, On Hong Building (安康大廈) at 29-47 Tai Pa Street in Tsuen Wan, On Shing Building (安盛大廈) at 19-25 Tai Pak Tin Street and the 12-story On Fat Building (安發工業大廈) at 12 Kwai Wing Road in Kwai Chung. On Fat had 2 units per floor and each unit was 4000 sq ft. (WKYP, 1973-10-7) 

Ching Yee ad in 1978 for On Fung Building in the Mid-Levels on the left and Artview Court and Artland Court in Chai Wan on the right (WKYP, 1978-1-21)

In 1978, Ching Yee developed the 19-story On Fung Building (安峰大廈) at 110-118 Caine Road in the Mid-Levels and also two residential buildings in Chai Wan jointly with Chinachem – Artview Court (雅景閣) and Artland Court (雅麗閣) as shown in above ad.

Advertorial of two Ching Yee properties in 1982: On Wah Industrial Building (left) in Fo Tan and On Lai Building (right) in Tuen Mun (WKYP, 1982-5-12)

In 1981, Ching Yee developed On Ho Industrial Building (安豪工業大廈) in Tai Wai. In 1982, Ching Yee developed the 12-story On Wah Industrial Building (安華工業大廈) at 41-43 Au Pui Wan Street in Fo Tan and the 13-story On Lai Building (安麗大廈) at 3 Tsing To Path in Tuen Mun, which were selling at HK$231 per sq ft and HK$429 per sq ft respectively at the time.  

Ad for Wah Luen Industrial Centre (WKYP, 1983-5-22) 

In 1983, Ching Yee partnered up once again with Chinachem and developed Wah Luen Industrial Centre (華聯工業中心) at 10 Wong Chuk Yeung Street in Fo Tan as shown in above ad.

As a firm, Ching Yee Construction & Investment Co Ltd was dissolved in 1986. Its activities appeared to be continued by Ching Yee Enterprises (正義實業, incorporated in 1978) and Ching Yee Realty (正義物業, incorporated in 1981 and dissolved in 2000). In 1987, Ching Yee developed the 24-story On Hong Commercial Building (安康商業大廈) at 145 Hennessy Road in Wanchai. (WKYP, 1987-10-12) Ching Yee Realty developed the 24-story Connaught Commercial Building (康樂商業大廈) at 185 Wanchai Road in Wanchai in 1989. Ching Yee Enterprises teamed up with Wo Yick Enterprises, Kwai Hung Realty and Kiroll Development to develop the 25-story, 125 unit Wo Yick Mansion (和益大廈) at 263 Queen’s Road West in 1994. 

In 2007, Kenneth Hsu (許善明, licensed architect, presumably son of Hsu Ve-tsin) of Ching Yee Enterprises gave a rare interview with the press as the firm was contemplating a listing to help it compete and expand into the mainland . At the time, the firm had a dozen properties in Wanchai and two high-end residential rental properties in Happy Valley with development projects such as a building on Tai Yip Street in Kwun Tong and the residential project Kisland Villa (啓欣軒) in Yuen Long.  (Apple Daily, 2007-6-14) Also involved in the business are Kenneth’s brothers Hsu Shin-cheung (許善聰) and John Hsu Shin-sun (許善臣)

In the 2010s, Ching Yee was exposed to be subdividing spaces in its industrial properties into residential units -including 46 units at 69 Bedford Road in Tai Kok Tsui in 2011 and irregularities at On Ho Industrial Building in Shatin (held by family holding company On Loong Investment 安隆置業有限公司) in 2016.

Sources (other than what’s cited above):

https://eastweek.my-magazine.me/main/16138

https://hk.appledaily.com/finance/20070614/T4YRVGWDE772KP7NRBHJURBNQE/

https://www.hk01.com/%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/44172/%E5%A4%A7%E5%9C%8D%E8%A2%AB%E9%BB%9E%E5%90%8D%E5%B7%A5%E5%BB%88-%E5%8A%8F%E6%88%BF%E5%A4%A7%E7%8E%8B%E6%8C%81%E6%9C%89%E5%96%AE%E4%BD%8D-%E5%A4%A9%E5%8F%B0%E7%8F%BE%E7%96%91%E4%BC%BC%E5%83%AD%E5%BB%BA%E5%B0%8F%E6%B4%8B%E6%88%BF

This article was first posted on 24th April 2020.

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