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1. Developers gather for West Kowloon summit

2. Our plan will rival Central Park

1. Developers gather for West Kowloon summit
FREDA WAN in Macau and CHLOE LAI, SCMP 6 January 2005

Property developers will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow over the controversial West Kowloon cultural district project, amid a new call for it to be split up.

Disclosing that he had called about 20 members to the meeting, Real Estate Developers Association chairman Stanley Ho Hung-sun said the government should split the site into pieces and relax bidding conditions to allow more developers to participate.

"When there is rice, everybody gets to eat," he said.

Two of the three short-listed bidders for the site, Henderson Land and the Sino Land and Wharf consortium, last night said they would attend the meeting.

Small developers have hotly opposed the government plan to award the 40-hectare site to one developer to build and manage the facilities for 30 years.

"West Kowloon is the best piece of land left in Hong Kong," Mr Ho said. "At this meeting, I will voice my views as chairman on how we should deal with this plot of land, and then I'll listen to the views of the other committee members.

"I have always opposed giving the opportunity to only one person. When there is rice, everybody gets to eat. That is my motto, whether in Hong Kong or in Macau."

The news came as legislators last night debated a motion moved by independent lawmaker Alan Leong Kah-kit, which called for the government to drop the single-developer approach, remove the giant canopy as a required feature and reveal all financial details of the bidders' proposals.

"There is already a consensus from the public that they do not like the single-developer plan," he said.

Debate will continue today on the motion, which is expected to win support from the Democrats, Liberals and some independents.

2. Our plan will rival Central Park
CHLOE LAI, SCMP 6 January 2005

Sunny Development may be the cultural hub contender with the highest development density, but it says its proposal leaves the harbourfront open to the people.

Its plans include a large waterfront park, which it claims will rival Hyde Park in London and Central Park in New York. Sunny spokesman and Sino Land executive director Yu Wai-wai said the proposal also reserved more land for the city's art and cultural development than the other contenders.

Sunny sees West Kowloon as laying the groundwork for further arts and cultural development.

Mr Yu said: "From the macro point of view, the government should lead arts and cultural development. West Kowloon will create an atmosphere."

Sunny Development, a consortium of Sino Land, Wharf (Holdings) and Chinese Estates Holdings, is bidding against Dynamic Star International, a joint venture between Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung Kai Properties; and the World City Cultural Park, a Henderson Land subsidiary.

"We have the highest plot ratio, but we will leave the most expensive part of the site for a public park. We will just take the strip near the typhoon shelter and Canton Road [for development]. Hong Kong will have more arts and cultural space under our plan."

Mr Yu said that, as already promised, the group would lower its proposed plot ratio - the formula that determines development density - from the present 4.3.

On top of what the government requires, Sunny proposes building a 1,750-seat concert hall and a recital hall for individual and chamber music. It says this will give the cultural hub a world-class infrastructure to cover many different forms of performance.

Sunny plans to build a park above the museums and theatres with the slogan, "Park in the sky, culture on the water" and has dubbed the project Park of Arts, Recreation and Culture.

As appreciating nature is the theme of the project, the designers modified the canopy - required under the original design concept - from a massive structure to a light, skin-like but weatherproof decoration.

"We don't want to have a huge steel structure in the park. For us, it will be a place where people can get close to nature; celebrate sunshine, trees, flowers and lawns."

Instead of following the government' recommendation on having a museum cluster and a theatre cluster, Sunny will mix museums and theatres along the harbour.

It thinks every museum and theatre should have a distinct personality, and the personality should not be restricted to the building's interior.

Sunny wanted visitors to feel the mood before they reached the buildings.