Terence Lo arrived in Macau in late 2019 having been convinced by friends that it’s a good way of life here. Born in Vancouver, Canada, raised in Hong Kong, with a degree in Management Science from the University of California, San Diego, he’s quite the globetrotter, though most of his career in real estate development has kept him living between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Now in his late 30’s he felt a change of scenery would do him good, hence the move to Macau. These days he works as a real estate consultant for Ambiente Properties’ Hengqin company.
“I’m busy planning a series of seminars on buying and leasing properties on Hengqin; with the favourable policies offered Macau and Hong Kong buyers there’s a lot of interest.”
A feng shui enthusiast, Terence set about checking all the main properties in Macau to see which one would have units that would best suit his needs. It was not an easy task.
“I checked over 30 places, starting by looking online and using Google Maps. I wanted to be on Macau side and there is only one development suitable for me and that’s La Marina, and specifically tower 2, an ‘E’ unit. My front door must face North East and also face water. Behind my apartment there must be either a building or a mountain,” he explains.
La Marina is a year-old development located on Macau’s north shore, adjacent to the Residencia apartments and Crowne Plaza hotel. A total of 2,750 units, ranging in sizes from 8641365 sq feet, are spread over six towers, going up as high as 45 floors. Almost 60 percent of the apartments are studios, 15 percent are 1-bedroom, 25 percent are 2-bedrooms, and the balance is a handful of 3+ bedrooms. This break-down is in keeping with many of the new builds in Macau these days – the focus is on small units geared for the younger occupant, singles and couples. The crunch comes when there are only just over 1,000 parking spots, around 700 for cars and 300 for motorcycles, so it’s a challenge if one has a car, but fortunately there’s a public bus interchange within a few minutes’ walk.
Like many of the new builds these days, La Marina has installed finger print access for the apartment doors, “or I can open the door using an application on my phone. It’s very high tech… I get a message on my phone very time the door is opened!” he laughs.
Terence settled on an unfurnished 980 sq feet, 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment. The second bedroom has been converted into a dressing room with closets on either side. He particularly appreciates having the main door opening into the middle of the apartment, with dining-living area on the left and bedrooms on the right. “And what’s really great is there’s a huge public area space in front of the main door. In feng shui terms, it’s a big area for energy to be stored in front of my home.”
The pale wood flooring throughout and good headroom give a light, airy feel to the place. It has a balcony for two people to sit comfortably and from it a great sea view looking towards Zhuhai’s coastline.