There’s a saying in Hong Kong property circles that if the city’s richest man, Li Ka-Shing, is selling, you don’t want to be the buyer. Now, a group of investors who paid $5.2 billion for Li’s stake in The Center almost three years ago — making it the world’s most expensive skyscraper — is finding out why. After initially making quick profits flipping floors in the 73-story tower, the combination of anti-government protests, the coronavirus pandemic and escalating U.S.-China tensions has seen vacancies surge, rents drop and deal-making dry up.

Just one sale has been made this year — at a 35 percent discount to early 2019 prices, according to property-data provider Real Capital Analytics. Almost one-fifth of the building is empty — one of the highest vacancy rates in Hong Kong’s sought-after central business district — and rents are down about 20 percent from a year ago.

"It was a reasonable investment decision back then,” said Thomas Lam, an executive director at Knight Frank LLP. Market prices were higher than the average cost the group paid, and flipping floors seemed easy, he said. "But now, as rental yields and office demand decline amid the worsening economy, buyers are much more reserved.”