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1. Battle on to save mansion from builder's wrecking ball

2. Cost may scupper canopy for culture hub

3. Small player thinks big on waterfront site

4. Developer has no regrets about 15-year struggle

1. Battle on to save mansion from builder's wrecking ball
PETER MICHAEL, SCMP 28 April 2004

The historic house at 45 Stubbs Road will probably be demolished unless the government steps in. Picture by Jonathan Wong

It has played host to Hollywood, but now the historic King Yin Lei mansion is set to become the focus of a test case by conservationists seeking to have the stately home declared a monument.

Hollywood heartthrobs Clark Gable and William Holden once wandered the halls of the regal red-brick residence where tourists today stop to gawk.

With its panoramic views over the harbour, the residence at 45 Stubbs Road, Mid-Levels, featured as a backdrop for the films Soldier of Fortune (1955) and Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955).

It has had only two owners in 68 years. But with the mansion now up for sale by tender, there are fears it will be demolished to make way for high-rise flats.

The Conservancy Association is calling on the government to use the historic mansion as a test case under the ongoing Review of Built Heritage Conservation Policy.

"We want to preserve this interesting house and protect the area from ruin," association spokeswoman Kate Choy Pui-ling said. "We are trying to nominate the house for declared monument status. It is now up for sale and we are very scared the building will be demolished once it is tendered out.

"The last thing we need is another couple of buildings rising out of the hill like chopsticks."

With the luxury home market booming, owner Stephen Yow Mok-shing has decided to sell the 25,000 sq ft house, which sits on a 50,650 sq ft site.

Property consultants estimate it could fetch $400 million and agree it will probably be demolished and replaced by townhouses or a high-rise development. The Home Affairs Bureau is running a public consultation on the need to review heritage conservation.

The next public forum will be held in the lecture theatre at Central Library on Monday.

2. Cost may scupper canopy for culture hub
POLLY HUI, SCMP 28 April 2004

Sir Norman Foster's space-age design for West Kowloon.

The construction of a giant canopy designed by architect Sir Norman Foster for the controversial West Kowloon cultural district may be scrapped if developers think it is too costly, a senior government official has revealed.

"Construction of the canopy does not necessarily have to go ahead. If everybody thinks it's too expensive, we will reconsider the whole approach," Kwan Pak-lam, a Territory Development Department project manager, told the Legislative Council's panel on planning, lands and works yesterday. Public opposition could also scupper the project.

Mr Kwan admitted after the meeting that the design and tendering of the $24 billion project to transform the area into a cultural hub with museums, theatres and walkways would have to begin from scratch should the canopy concept be discarded.

The remarks appeared to mark a change of stance from the government's previous insistence on building the canopy, despite mounting criticism of the design. The vast glassy canopy would cover more than half the 40-hectare site, sitting 30 storeys above it.

Construction of the structure was a mandatory requirement in the government's invitation for development proposals. But it has been criticised by engineers, architects and cultural groups as shockingly expensive to maintain.

Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen added to the controversy when he cited the structure as one of the main factors behind the government's decision to entrust a single consortium to run the site for 30 years. Splitting the project under a single roof would be difficult, he said. But critics fear the precious site would end up as a cash-driven property project if it was controlled by just one developer.

Democrat panel member Wong Sing-chi questioned whether the government's apparent about-face was a result of behind-doors negotiations with developers.

"It makes us wonder whether officials have suddenly changed their minds because the developers told them it would be too costly to build the canopy," he said.

Liberal Party chairman James Tien Pei-chun called for more transparency. He said the government should be able to run the cultural facilities on its own because of its improved financial condition. The remaining land on the site should be retained for sale in coming years when prices went up.

A motion put forward by independent legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip opposing the proposed method of operating the project was passed unanimously. The panel members also said it was outrageous that the project did not require Legco approval because it was not defined as public works.

Panel member Abraham Razack said: "With the money spent on the project, we could build hundreds and hundreds of museums. I hope the government can see that the West Kowloon site is the best remaining site we can find in Hong Kong and such valuable resources should not be wasted."

Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor denied there had been closed-door negotiations between her staff and developers.

Criticism of the project has pushed back the deadline for submission of development proposals to June 19. A public consultation on the proposals is due to be held early next year and construction is to be completed in stages from 2010.

3. Small player thinks big on waterfront site
PEGGY SITO, SCMP 28 April 2004

An artist's impression of the North Point Estate redevelopment. Picture by Antony Dickson

If you are going to think, think big, reckons Alexander Lui Yiu-wah.

Standing in his 29th floor K Wah Building office on the North Point waterfront overlooking the now vacant former public housing site next door, the property developer has big ideas.

The managing director of K Wah Real Estates is proposing the government transform the former North Point Estate - together with the adjacent parcel of public lots, totalling nearly 10 hectares - into a cultural centre packed with theatres, shops and residential blocks.

The company submitted its design to the government two months ago, and made its plans public last week, immediately drawing attention from property and business communities.

But market observers are concerned this project will draw attention away from the controversial West Kowloon cultural and real estate project on a yet-to-be-reclaimed site near Kowloon station.

They also believe the plan is a gesture by K Wah to show its disappointment in the government's tendering method, which will see the $24 billion West Kowloon project offered as one single contract. Small developers, including K Wah, said that form of tendering favoured big developers.

Their fears may be well founded, as Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung Kai Properties are reportedly in talks about forming an alliance to bid for the mega project.

Responding to concerns that the North Point proposal was in competition with the 40-hectare West Kowloon project, Mr Lui said the latter was the inspiration for the former.

"The chance of participating in the West Kowloon development is minimal. That's why we need to initiate other proposals that will allow us to participate," he said.

His company is privately run by the family of the chairman of locally listed K Wah International, Lui Che-woo.

He said K Wah floated the idea to the government without insisting that it be the developer if the project materialised, but added the company would definitely be interested in bidding if the proposal for the North Point site was accepted.

The K Wah plan calls on the government to build a smaller cultural hub, about a quarter of the size of the West Kowloon development, in a shorter time.

Covering an area of 92,500 square metres, the entire North Point project would be completed in 10 years, whereas the West Kowloon project will take 30 years. Under the K Wah proposal, a completed North Point project would provide 463,000 square metres of developed areas, comprising theatres, performing venues, hotels, shops and residential blocks.

While the West Kowloon project has earmarked about 29 per cent of its area for cultural pursuits, North Point has suggested setting aside 20 per cent.

And while the government argued that splitting the West Kowloon project between several developers would result in inconsistency of design, K Wah wanted the North Point development spread over 12 phases with many developers involved.

K Wah has appointed Hong Kong architect Philip Liao, who lost out to British architect Norman Foster in the competition to provide the conceptual design for the West Kowloon development, to design the North Point project.

Mr Liao is not fazed by the consistency argument.

"Consistency is a relative term. Do you think Paris, which obviously hasn't been built by one consortium, is a consistent development? I personally think so," said Mr Liao.

Mr Lui said building the project in phases would allow greater flexibility as demands for cultural services may change over the years.

Eddie Hui Chi-man, associate professor of Hong Kong Polytechnic University's department of building and real estate, said the move by K Wah was a gesture against the government's stated tendering method for West Kowloon, but at the same time it would create business opportunities for the company.

Mr Hui said small developers had little chance of competing against big developers in Hong Kong, where the property market was dominated by the likes of Sun Hung Kai Properties and Cheung Kong (Holdings).

He said the government might accept the proposal as a way of appeasing small developers.

According to a Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau spokesperson, the North Point proposal was being considered by the government.

The central feature of the K Wah plan is the Chinese arts and cultural centre, which will be flanked by shops, hotels, parks and housing blocks.

A feature of the project will be a harbourfront boardwalk under the Eastern Corridor, linking the various facilities, including a six-storey boutique hotel, a ferry terminal for tourists and a helicopter pad.

4. Developer has no regrets about 15-year struggle
SANDY LI, SCMP 28 April 2004

Words from Hong Kong-born American accidental pop star William Hung sum up how the deputy chairman of Great Eagle Holdings feels about a project that has taken 15 years to complete.

"I already gave my best. I have no regrets at all."

Lo Ka-shui, 57, who admits to being a Hung fan, is reflecting on one of Hong Kong's most expensive, complex and protracted urban redevelopment projects.

Great Eagle has spent 15 years and a whopping $10.5 billion on the Mongkok Seven Streets redevelopment, known as Langham Place, which incorporates Shanghai Street, Argyle Street and Portland Street. The project is due for completion in October.

The more than 1.75 million square foot office-hotel-retail complex is seven years behind schedule and $2.5 billion over budget.

Mongkok Seven Streets comprises a 59-storey, 700,000 sqft office tower, a 15-storey, 600,000 sqft shopping centre with more than 300 shops and a 42-storey, 460,000 sqft hotel with 700 rooms.

The doctor-turned-developer said scale and site meant the project would probably be unique.

"Such a huge commercial complex built in the most prosperous inner city area of Hong Kong will probably never be duplicated," said Mr Lo, who is also vice-president of the Hong Kong Real Estate Developers Association.

He sees the development as transforming the run-down precinct into a prime shopping district. "The area will undergo a dramatic change within two years of completion of Langham Place," he predicted.

Today the average price for a retail shop near Portland Street is about $10,000 per square foot, while in Sai Yeung Choi Street - Mongkok's most expensive street and a block away from Langham Place - the average retail price of a main street shop is $50,000 per square foot.

For Great Eagle, a relatively small property firm compared with heavyweights Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung Kai Properties, 1989 was a significant year. That year the company won development rights - against heavy odds - to two giant projects: the Mongkok Seven Streets redevelopment and Citibank Plaza in Garden Road, Central.

At the time of purchase, the Mongkok site was a maze of old flats and shops, while the Citibank Plaza site, which cost $2.7 billion, was a clear site.

Mr Lo said the offering for sale by tender of such a large prime site as Mongkok Seven Streets by Land Development Corp (LDC), the predecessor of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), was an opportunity too good to miss.

He recalled visiting the district before Great Eagle Holdings made its bid for the project.

"I counted 220 people streaming past me every minute. It was a sleepless place where shops stayed open until 2am. Our research showed that 86 per cent of shoppers visiting Mongkok were from other parts of Kowloon and Hong Kong," he said.

To improve Great Eagle's chances of winning the tender, Mr Lo formed a strategic partnership with international giants to impress the LDC.

He persuaded Itochu of Japan, the Chicago-based Pritzker family, the owner of the Hyatt Corp, and P&O of Britain to join him as minority partners in the tendering process. The strategy worked.

The LDC was impressed by the consortium's international profile, and the government's desire to attract foreign investment in Hong Kong was being fulfilled.

However, political uncertainties and the long and complex nature of the project finally left Great Eagle as the sole developer.

Great Eagle eventually bought out the interest from LDC in 1999.

While Citibank Plaza had to be completed within five years of the development rights being secured, site assembly for the Mongkok redevelopment project was not begun until 1994.

Four years later, and with the help of joint venture partner LDC, Great Eagle completed most of the site assembly at Langham Place.

Buying the Mongkok site was a relatively easy matter compared with launching the redevelopment. The project affected 1,500 households, resulting in a tangled web of delays and difficulties.

"We could not get in touch with some flat owners because of scattered ownership, which is common in old areas with obsolete buildings," he said.

"Some of the businesses could not provide tax bills or evidence to prove loss of business because of the redevelopment. Disputes arose over property valuations."

After that came the assorted problems that have contributed to what has been a five-year construction overrun.

"In hindsight, luck has been on our side," Mr Lo said.

"Our hard work has yielded a product that Hong Kong can be proud of. Today's developers would not be interested in urban redevelopment."

He expected to see dramatic changes in Mongkok when leases on mahjong clubs and shops on Portland Street expire by September next year.

"The URA has indicated its determination to rejuvenate the district as an upmarket shopping area," he said, noting that trendy cafés and restaurants had moved into the area adjacent to Langham Place. He said the machinery and tool shops along Reclamation Street, near Langham Hotel, would gradually be replaced by modern-style shops.

Asked if he would do it all over again, Mr Lo said: "No.

"If I had known it would take 15 years to complete - more than double my original forecast - I would not have done it," he said.

"The risks involved with such a lengthy project are very high."