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Contract let for Kai Tak study 2.
Skyrail wins HK$865m Lantau cable car role 3.
Developers in rush to launch units on SHKP sales success
1. Contract let for Kai Tak study Leading
architect Aedas LPT has won two assignments involving work at the former Kai Tak
airport site and the redevelopment of part of the Landmark in Central into a luxury
hotel and office complex. The Kai Tak contract calls for a further urban design
study for the planning of south east Kowloon. Led by urban designers Urbis-LPT,
the 12-month investigation will fine tune the design framework for the whole of
the south east Kowloon development area which covers nearly 500 hectares. This
includes the north apron and runway areas of the former Kai Tak airport, waterfront
areas at To Kwa Wan, Ma Tau Kok, Kowloon Bay, Kwun Tong and Cha Kwo Ling and the
proposed reclamation of the Kai Tak approach channel. Aedas LPT director David
Roberts said the Planning Department study would establish a framework, with detailed
guidelines and requirements at district and local levels, to help create a showpiece
development on Victoria Harbour. The government is considering a raft of green
initiatives including environmentally friendly transport systems, sustainable
development, and high quality public spaces. Maunsell Consultants Asia has just
been awarded a feasibility study by the Territory Development Department (TDD)
to investigate the possibility of installing a centralised waste collection network
to restrict the movement of refuse collection vehicles. Among the facilities being
considered for the south east Kowloon site is an international cruise terminal
and a multi-purpose stadium that is intended to become Hong Kong's premier sports
and entertainment venue. The design will include significant green areas and parkland.
The development area is expected to have a population of about 260,000 split among
about 80,000 apartments. The Planning Department said the Urbis-Aedas team would
prepare planning briefs covering most of these major development sites. The Urbis-Aedas
study is the latest in a series of consultancy contracts awarded by both the Planning
Department and TDD. The Planning Department said the recent approval of the Kai
Tak outline zoning plans provided the overall statutory planning framework for
the south east Kowloon development, while the Urbis-Aedas assignment involved
the preparation of more detailed guidelines. Separately, the TDD is awarding contracts
for the detailed design of infrastructure works. The first two of about four or
five assignments were awarded this year. Ove Arup & Partners was awarded a
HK$110 million deal to design and supervise construction of the redevelopment
of the northern apron area. This includes the demolition of the landmark Kai Tak
passenger and car park buildings, together with the formation of roads, drainage,
open space and landscaping. The second contract, worth HK$56 million, was won
by a joint venture between Ove Arup and Scott Wilson (Hong Kong), to find the
most suitable method of dealing with contaminated material in the foul-smelling
Kai Tak nullah. Aedas' second contract was awarded by Hongkong Land for the redevelopment
of the eastern part of the Landmark building in Central. Under the terms of its
assignment Aedas has been appointed as both project architect and joint design
architects with KPF for the project. Current plans envisage the conversion of
a 42-storey office tower into a 15-storey hotel topped by 24-floors of offices.
Work also includes extending and refitting about 46,000 square metres of retail
space. Roberts said the hotel would occupy a corner site at the junction of Queen's
Road and Ice House Street, with the entrance to the hotel fronting Queen's Road. [Source:
The Standard, 3 September 2002]
2. Skyrail wins HK$865m Lantau cable car role Australia's
Skyrail ITM has won a contract from the MTR Corp (MTRC) to help develop the HK$865
million Tung Chung-Po Lin cable car project. The deal was reported last Friday
in the Australian press, but the contract has yet to be confirmed by the MTRC.
Skyrail ITM managing director Ken Chapman was quoted as saying: ``Our contract
is to assist with the detailed design and construction on a consultancy basis
and to be the operator of the finished product.'' The cable car system will be
similar to the 7.5-kilometre Skyrail network in Cairns, north Queensland, which
runs through tropical rainforest from Caravonica Lakes to Kuranda. The company
also operates the SkySafari network at Sydney's Taronga Zoo. The MTRC won its
30-year build-operate-transfer franchise from the government in July. The 5.5km
link on Lantau will run from a base station at the southern part of Chek Lap Kok
airport via Tung Chung new town to the Great Buddha and Po Lin monastery at Ngong
Ping. Construction is expected to begin next year for completion in August 2005
when about a million travellers a year are expected to make the 17-minute cable
car journey. A large proportion of the construction materials, including the steel
support pylons and steel rope, is likely to be moved by helicopter, providing
a mini-boom for local heavylift helicopter companies, Heliservices and Helicopters
Hong Kong. Chapman said there would also be a 6,000-square-metre theme village
close to the monastery featuring a Buddhist museum, education centre, traditional
Chinese tea garden, a street theatre, restaurants and shops. The firm was also
in discussions with environmentalists and monks who oppose the project. Chapman
said the Cairns project was now held up as a model of environmental tourism. [Source:
The Standard, 3 September 2002]
3. Developers in rush to launch units on SHKP sales success Developers
are racing to launch new residential projects to lure buyers following the successful
sales of Sun Hung Kai Properties' (SHKP) Park Island units recently. SHKP will
today announce sales details of its 1,624-unit Aegean Coast in Tuen Mun, a joint
venture with Luk Hoi Tong and Henderson Land Development. Some agents said more
than 1,400 prospective buyers had registered interest in Aegean Coast. As a pre-launch
promotion, the company said the first three SHKP Club members buying Aegean Coast
units would be given a 3 per cent price discount. Rival developer Cheung Kong
(Holdings) is also expected to release today internal sale details for its 880-unit
project Hampton Place in West Kowloon. Cheung Kong last night said it would release
a further 30 units at another project Banyan Garden phase two in Cheung Sha Wan
for tomorrow's public sale at higher prices. The additional units at higher floor
levels were priced at HK$3,326 per square foot, compared with the average of HK$2,718
per square foot for the first batch of 20 units. Sales manager Francis Wong said
the price disparity was mainly attributable to the different levels and views
the units captured. The extra units were mainly on the 50th floor or above while
the first batch was a mix of low to high-level units, he said. Cheung Kong said
earlier that it had already sold 209 units of Banyan Garden phase two through
internal sales. However, Henderson Land Development general sales manager Donald
Cheung Ping-keung announced the appointment of Midland Realty as sole agent for
this month only to offload 2,000 remaining units at its new projects in West Kowloon.
The units were estimated to be worth HK$4 billion to HK$5 billion. Mr Cheung said
about 1,600 unfinished units belonged to Metro Harbour View phases one and two
in Tai Kok Tsui with prices at an average of HK$3,100 per square foot. Henderson
Land would provide a new preferential package, to be announced soon, instead of
a price cut to sell flats, he said, adding that it believed housing prices had
bottomed out. [Source:
SCMP, 3 September 2002] |  |
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