Tight vacancy rates and escalating rents in Hong Kong’s central business district (CBD) have encouraged firms like Berwin Leighton Paisner and Ince & Co to look for alternative office spaces in the eastern half of the island.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), BLP has signed a six-year lease with Swire Properties for 15,000 square feet of space in the Quarry Bay area making it the first international law firm to open an office in Quarry Bay.  Ince has also committed to moving out of the CBD into the Quarry Bay area.

In 2013, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton became the first Wall Street law firm to move out of Hong Kong’s Central, relocating to Causeway Bay, the SAR’s main shopping district.

The SCMP added that average office rents in the CBD stood at HK$105.60 ($13.60) per square foot in April, while the vacancy rate of Grade A offices was just 1.4 per cent at the end of last month.