Current condition
In use
Date completed
The 1966 photo below shows the building under construction, but it was finished the same year as the government's 'Names of Buildings' gives 1966 as the building's 'year of completion'.
Previous place(s) at this location
Photos that show this Place
1965
1965
1966
Comments
The actual name of the…
The actual name of the building is "kowloon commercial building" or 九龍商業大厦 according to a 1968 news report. People called it star house obviously because of the star ferry. Likely the building previously there was called star house too before 1966.
The name can be seen in the following picture (last 5 of the 6 Chinese characters)
https://new.gwulo.com/media/28603/zoom
It may initially have had…
It may initially have had another name, Simtang, but it also had the name "Star House" emblazoned on it since at least the early 1970s so that was at least semi-officially its name and better explains the colloquial usage than the proximity to the Star Ferry alone. (I know *I* certainly called it that because that was what its signage said for my entire life.)
https://gwulo.com/media/43615
Re: Star House
Star House was initially called the "Kowloon Commercial Centre" and was owned by the Kowloon Realty Co. In May 1968, the original company sold the building to Hong Kong Land. Since then, the building has been known by its current name.
A photo at: https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/henry-fok-ying-tung-one-of-the-directors-of-the-kowloon-news-photo/1126649330 showing the completion of the transaction.
The 1970 Hong Kong Map at : https://www.hkmaps.hk/viewer.html has yet to update the original name of the building