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1. Tai Cheung bides time on houses

2. Transport Department planning further consultation on East Rail extensions

1. Tai Cheung bides time on houses
Raymond Wang, The Standard 6 April 2004

Mid-sized listed developer Tai Cheung Holdings is poised to reap more than HK$600 million from the sale of 14 houses in Chung Hom Kok.

Investors have made offers of about HK$15,000 per square foot for the Cape Road project, which will be the company's main profit contributor for this year, sources said.

Despite the keen interest, director Simon Lee said the houses would not be released for sale until later in the year.

``To take advantage of rising luxury residential prices, we would rather sell to both end-users and investors,'' he said.

The project in Island South will have a gross floor area of more than 42,000 square feet when completed.

Tai Cheung bought the 40,000 sq ft site at a government land auction two years ago for about HK$100 million.

The suspension of land sales for all of last year left Tai Cheung with a stagnant land bank until it acquired a luxury development site on The Peak through a private tender.

Tai Cheung last week bought Modreenagh on The Peak from Shun Ho Technology Holdings for HK$250 million, or HK$10,709 per sq ft.

Tai Cheung said it will spend more than HK$70 million to redevelop the six-storey building on a 28,200-square-foot site at 3-5 Plunkett's Road into eight townhouses measuring more than 3,000 sq ft each.

``We expect the townhouses to sell for more than HK$20,000 psf when they are completed in 2006,'' Lee said.

He said Tai Cheung may be interested in bidding for land lots on the government reserve list that were put up for auction.

2. Transport Department planning further consultation on East Rail extensions
CHANDRA WONG, SCMP 6 April 2004
Updated at 2.09pm:

The Transport Department plans to conduct a second round of public consultations in April or May on the commissioning of the KCRC East Rail Extensions (Ma On Shan Rail and Tsim Sha Tsui Extension).

A department spokesman said on Tuesday that the extensions were expected to begin later this year.

He said the department would develop a plan to cope with changes in travel patterns in Shatin.

The plan aims to provide a choice of services and to enhance the efficiency of the transport network. It could also alleviate traffic congestion.

The department conducted six area consultative forums in Shatin early last month during the first round of consultations to discuss the concerns of locals about the proposed plan.

The spokesman said the department was now carefully studying their views for possible revisions.

"Our target is still to confirm the service arrangements in mid-2004. This will provide sufficient time for transport operators to redeploy resources, and for us to conduct publicity for the public before the commissioning of the new rail. This will avoid unnecessary confusion to passengers," he said.