Hong Kong investor maps New York strategy.

Glorious Sun, primarily a garment manufacturer, owning factories in Seattle, among other places, has made investments with the Polylinks Chinese consortium in both the Horizon condominiums at 37th Street and First Avenue and the 98 units of the Park Avenue Court at 87th Street and Lexington Avenue purchased from the Bank of Montreal. In addition, they purchased by themselves 281 units in Worldwide Plaza for $32 million.

Paul Chang, secretary treasurer of Glorious Sun (New York), is exploring more opportunities, and was an unsuccessful bidder for 750 Seventh Avenue, which ultimately went to Morgan Stanley as a buyer-user.

Chang, who negotiated the Glorious Sun New York purchases, said the chairman of the company, Charles Yeung, lives in Hong Kong. When Yeung looked at the major cities of the world, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and London, Chang said he feels very comfortable that New York is the other city he wants to focus on.

"We think New York has hit bottom and it's time to buy," said Chang. "In our mind, if we could get something in this coming twelve months it will still be a reasonable buy. Anything beyond that I'm not sure."

Glorious Sun is basically a garment manufacturer and started in real estate a little more than ten years ago in Hong Kong, developing the Trade Building, which they recently sold. But now, Chang said, "We just invest in real estate that is the finished product already."

Chang spends 80 percent of his time looking at office product, but is not interested in Downtown Manhattan. "We don't like to look at buildings that are 30 to 50 years old because we don't have the experience to refurbish those things. If the building is within ten years old, those are the buildings that will make us feel more comfortable."

If there are buildings that are available, Chang said he would take a look, as long as it is in Midtown Manhattan and does not need a lot of refurbishing. "The brokers fax me this and fax me that," he confided, but said he will only deal with the broker who controls the property.

He is interested in condominiums at the right price and politely noted some blocks now available are overpriced. Additionally, he said they would hesitate over a rent-stabilized or rent-controlled building. "Once you go into this area it is more difficult to justify," he said. "There are too many uncertainties."

He says Glorious Sun is looking at more long-term investments because no matter how long term you look, "the market can always heat up and you will have an opportunity to sell. I'm not going to think about it until that situation arises, maybe in three to five years. This is our guess."

Chang noted that by finding the right managing agent and the right leasing agent, his company can expect a predictable return on their condominium investments before they have to worry about the long-term appreciation. "As long as there's a minimum 6 to 8 percent, that would be within our range," he said.

As for getting money out of Hong Kong, Chang confides, "We're not out of that stage." They have already sold two of their properties in Hong Kong, the Trade Square and the Hong Kong Bank.