Peng Chau Cinema, an Instagrammable spot for tourists on an outlying Hong Kong island, will be auctioned off in mid-August at a valuation 30 per cent below estimation after almost 40 years of abandonment – a dormancy lengthy enough to fuel dark rumours among some residents.
The former cinema is currently owned by Far East Hotels and Entertainment Limited, whose major shareholder is Derek Chiu, the sixth son of Deacon Chiu – founder of Far East Consortium.
However, the population plummeted as those facilities closed down, and the cinema ceased operations in 1987 after just nine years of business.
The main section of the cinema, along with the building’s exterior walls and solar power system, is currently being put up for auction, the handler Memfus Wong Auctioneers told the South China Morning Post.
The cinema has a total gross floor area of 907 square metres (9,760 sq ft), comprising 163 square metres on the ground floor, 170 square metres on the cockloft, 472 square metres on the first floor and 102 square metres on the second floor. If sold at the opening bid of HK$8.3 million (US$1.06 million), the property would have a price per square metre of around HK$9,151.