| News
Stories: |  |
Click-on these
handy "jump links" to quickly access the news item
you're looking
for. 1.
Approved Sha Tin Outline Zoning Plan amended 2.
Approved Lung Yuek Tau and Kwan Tei South OZP amended 3.
HKF property sale to pay for projects 4.
Cheung Kong opts for hotels in Hunghom
1. Approved Sha Tin Outline Zoning Plan amended The
Town Planning Board (the Board) today (May 3) announced amendments to the approved
Sha Tin Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). A major part of the Shek Mun Industrial Area
is rezoned from "Industrial" to "Other Specified Uses" annotated
"Business" ("OU(Business)") and "OU(Business(1))"
to meet the changing demand for the industrial and business sectors. A mix of
information technology and telecommunications industries, non-polluting industrial,
office and other commercial uses are permitted in the Business zone. Several other
sites in the same industrial area are rezoned to "Government, Institution
or Community", "Open Space" and "OU (Petrol Filling Station)"
to reflect existing and planned developments. The following amendments to the
Notes of the OZP have also been made to take forward the Board's previous decisions:
(i) revision of the covering Notes mainly to clarify the Board's intention with
respect to "existing use" within the planning scheme area; (ii) revision
of the Notes for the "Industrial" zone to cater for information technology
and telecommunications industries as well as other supporting industrial-related
activities, and to provide more flexibility to cater for public entertainment
and educational institutional uses; and (iii) revision of the Notes for the "Commercial"
("C") and "Commercial/Residential" ("C/R") zones
to permit 'Educational Institution' use as of right within the "C" zone,
and in a commercial building or in the non-domestic part of a commercial/residential
building within the "C/R" zone. The draft Plan No. S/ST/16 incorporating
the amendments is now available for public inspection until July 3, 2002 at the
Secretariat of the Town Planning Board; the Sha Tin, Tai Po and North District
Planning Office; the Sha Tin District Office; and the Sha Tin Rural Committee.
Any person affected by the amendments may submit a written objection to the Secretary
of the Town Planning Board, 15th Floor, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java
Road, on or before July 3, 2002. Copies of the draft plan are available for sale
at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. [Source:
Hong Kong Government, 3 May 2002] 2.
Approved Lung Yuek Tau and Kwan Tei South OZP amended
The Town Planning Board (the Board) today (May 3) announced amendments to the
approved Lung Yuek Tau and Kwan Tei South Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). Amendments
are made to rezone about 0.19 hectares of "Comprehensive Development Area"
("CDA") zone abutting Fanling Highway near Tong Hang to "Other
Specified Uses" annotated "Petrol Filling Station" ("OU(PFS)")
zone to reflect an existing petrol filling station and facilitate development
of a proposed petrol and liquefied petroleum gas filling station. The remaining
part of about 2.14 hectares of the "CDA" zone is rezoned to "Other
Specified Uses" annotated "Amenity Area" ("OU(AA)") zone
to reflect a proposed nursery garden/landscape/amenity area. In this connection,
amendments are also made to delete the set of Notes for this "CDA" zone
and to add the Notes for the "OU(PFS)" and "OU(AA)" zones.
The term 'Service Apartment' is deleted wherever it appears in the Notes with
a view to avoiding ambiguity. In addition, 'Social Welfare Facility' is added
under Column 2 of the Notes for the "Green Belt" zone to allow flexibility
for such provision and to be consistent with the provision under the urban OZPs.
The draft Plan No. S/NE-LYT/6 incorporating the amendments is now available for
public inspection until June 26, 2002 at the Secretariat of the Town Planning
Board; the Sha Tin, Tai Po and North District Planning Office; the North District
Office; and the Fanling District Rural Committee. Any person affected by the amendments
may submit a written objection to the Secretary of the Town Planning Board, 15th
Floor, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, on or before June 26, 2002.
Copies of the draft plan are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres
in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. [Source:
Hong Kong Government, 3 May 2002] 3.
HKF property sale to pay for projects
Henderson Land Development may sell properties under its Hong Kong Ferry (Holdings)
(HKF) unit to raise cash to invest into other higher return ventures. Colin Lam,
vice-chairman of Hong Kong's third largest developer by market value, said yesterday
the company would probably sell HKF's staff quarters and factories and invest
the cash in other property projects. Lam did not specify the factories the company
planned to dispose of. Henderson now had cash and a bank balance of HK$1.7 billion,
he added. HKF's industrial properties include an old shipyard and industrial site
situated at Tai Kok Tsui Road in West Kowloon with an area of about 228,000 square
feet. The Town Planning Board approved the redevelopment of the reclaimed shipyard
site into a residential and commercial zone with a two million square feet floor
area in 1998. Lam expected HKF's parent, Henderson, to enter talks with the government
this year for the land premium for three to five sites and had set aside about
HK$1 billion for it. He said the company currently had sufficient land, so it
was not in a hurry to apply for a land sale from the reserve list. Henderson applied
for the sale of the West Kowloon land site in the previous auction, but Sino Land
outbid it and paid HK$1.64 billion for the site. Lam said Henderson was interested
in investing in property projects either for sale or for rent, and it would consider
tendering for projects under The Metropolis complex - a joint venture between
Cheung Kong (Holdings) and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp comprising offices,
shops and hotels. He said Henderson had cashed out ``billions'' from its property
sales so far this year. Henderson's net profit fell 47 per cent in the first half
of this year from a year earlier to HK$1.1 billion. Shares of the land developer
fell HK$0.90 or 2.34 per cent yesterday to close at HK$37.50. [Source:
Hong Kong iMail, 4 May 2002] 4.
Cheung Kong opts for hotels in Hunghom
Cheung Kong (Holdings) has decided to build hotels rather than offices on two
large commercial lots in Hunghom to tap the increasing tourist numbers from the
mainland. The two sites will provide a total gross floor area of 2.44 million
square feet, to be completed by 2005. Cheung Kong acquired the sites through auctions
last year for a total of HK$1.74 billion. Analysts had expected that office development
there could achieve better yield. However, Cheung Kong executive director Justin
Chiu Kwok-hung said the return from hotels was better than offices at this stage
but the situation could change from time to time. "There is in fact plenty
of land in Hong Kong suitable for office development," he said. He said tourism
in Hong Kong should be good as more and more mainlanders were coming. "They
have much to spend but they are more realistic. They prefer cheaper hotels, not
necessarily going for high-class [hotels] in Central," he said. He said hotels
managed by the group and associate Hutchison Whampoa at present maintained a high
occupancy rate. Mr Chiu would not go into details of the two Hunghom hotel developments,
such as the number of rooms. Derek Cheung, HSBC Securities analyst, said Cheung
Kong's decision to opt for hotel development in Hunghom reflected its cautiousness
over the future office market. Mr Chiu said Cheung Kong also had a hotel development
in a commercial-residential joint venture with New World Development in To Kwa
Wan. He said some unfinished flats of the residential portion Sky Towers could
be released for sale this month. Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa own and manage
three hotels in Hong Kong - Harbour Plaza in Hunghom, Harbour Plaza North Point
and Harbour Plaza Resort City in Tin Shui Wai. Another hotel, Horizon Suites in
Ma On Shan, with a gross floor area of 317,000 sq ft, will begin operation this
year. Mr Chiu said Cheung Kong was considering whether to submit a tender for
the sale of The Metropolis commercial complex in Hunghom. The tender will close
on Monday. The complex, comprising a 690-room hotel, an office block and a retail
centre, was jointly developed by Cheung Kong and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp.
Analysts believe Cheung Kong will be keen to buy back part of the complex, which
surveyors estimate is worth more than HK$3 billion. Mr Chiu said Cheung Kong had
reaped more than HK$1.6 billion from the sale of its new residential project,
Harbourfront Landmark in Hunghom, in the past two weeks. [Source:
SCMP, 4 May 2002] |  |
|
