1. Tsuen Wan bidders stay away in droves
RAYMOND WANG, The Standard, 28 Apr 2007
The less-than-enthusiastic response was in stark contrast to the interest shown in the project by 13 developers in October.
Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation said Friday that Cheung Kong (Holdings) (0001), Henderson Land Development (0012) and Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) have submitted tenders. Referring to one other developer, KCRC chief executive James Blake said the corporation received a letter but not a tender submission from Sino Land (0083). The response, while not being the worst so far, was a disappointment as the market had expected at least four or five submissions.
For another project in 2005, the government-owned railway operator received only a single bid from Cheung Kong for the housing development atop West Rail's Tuen Mun station.
Sino, New World Development (0017), K Wah International (0173) and Wheelock Properties (0049) were among the 13 developers that had expressed interest in West Rail's Tsuen Wan West station TW7 project last October. They did not lodge bids Friday. Sino was not available for comment.
New World executive director Stewart Leung Chi-kin said the company skipped the project mainly on cost considerations. Surveyors said the land premium of HK$3.54 billion, which accounts for 59 percent of the total investment cost, was higher than market expectations of more than HK$3 billion.
Developers pay a premium to the government to convert land use.
Despite the high premium, SHKP remains positive about prospects for the project on the basis of robust demand, said Chow Kwok-yin, executive director of Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, a unit of SHKP.
"Apart from the premium issue, the sheer scale of the Tsuen Wan project deterred smaller developers, who can replenish their land banks through other means, such as the land application list," said Alvin Lam Tze-pun, director of Midland Surveyors.
The 255,558-square-foot TW7 site, next to the existing Waterside Plaza estate, can be developed into seven 44- to 49-story apartment blocks providing 1,776 flats.
The entire Tsuen Wan West station project, with 6,000 flats, also includes the TW6 and TW5 sites.
Vigers Appraisal and Consulting executive director Tony Chan Tung- ngok said some developers that stayed on the sidelines Friday could be holding on to their financial resources to bid for the TW6 and TW5 projects when the two sites become available.
Daniel Lam Chun, a director of property at KCRC, said submissions for the TW7 project are being examined by the corporation with a view to awarding the project at the earliest possible date.
2. Three bids for KCRC Tsuen Wan site
YVONNE LIU, SCMP, 28 Apr 2007
The railway operator yesterday announced that it had received bids from Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung Kai Properties, despite last month inviting 13 developers to make offers for the project.
Sino Land 's associate director Ringo Chan Wing-kwong yesterday said that the company had submitted a bid but KCRC chief executive James Blake said later that it was a fake one.
Bids are placed in a box in an area viewable to the public and there has long been speculation that developers occasionally have submitted unwinnable, or non-offers to talk up the property market.
Surveyor Albert So Chun-hin said the worse than expected response was due to the investment cost being more than HK$5 billion, a level only major developers could afford.
"The land premium of HK$2,909 per square foot imposed by the government is high. It kept many developers away," he said.
The Lands Department has imposed a land premium levy of HK$3.54 billion for the project.
Knight Frank executive director Alnwick Chan Chi-hing said the plentiful supply in Tsuen Wan was another reason for the response.
"Many developers are more interested in the three residential sites to be offered in the land auction next month. A site located on the West Kowloon waterfront has become the target," he said.
Sino Land has already launched the 1,446-unit Vision City in Tsuen Wan at an average price of more than HK$5,000 per square foot. Property agents said the project had about 700 unsold units. Sino Land owns another residential site in Tseun Wan.
Victor Lui Ting, executive director of Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, said that the company submitted the bid as the residential demand in Tsuen Wan was strong.
The KCRC project is a 258,800 square feet waterfront site next to Waterside Plaza . It can house up to seven 44 to 49-storey residential blocks with a floor area of 1.2 million square feet. It is the first phase of the Tsuen Wan West Station mixed development with a possible 1,776 units.
