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1. New director of housing appointed

2. Kowloon Tong tender offer

3. Developing Tamar into prime civic core accords with community long-term interest

1. New director of housing appointed
FELIX CHAN, SCMP 16 November 2005

Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Director Thomas Chan Chun-yuen is to become permanent secretary for housing, planning and lands and director of housing in the New Year.

Mr Chan, 55, and whose previous posts include being director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco and director of information services, will replace Leung Chin-man, who will go on pre-retirement leave from November 28. During his 39 years of service, Mr Leung has been involved in pushing through then-governor Chris Pattern's controversial constitutional reform package during the early 1990s as well as last year's unsuccessful Link Reit listing.

Director of Government Logistics Stella Hung Kwok Wai-ching, 52, will succeed Mr Chan at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the government also announced yesterday. She was formerly the director of government supplies and a deputy secretary for health, welfare and food.

Secretary for Civil Service Joseph Wong Wing-ping said both Mr Chan and Mrs Hung were both officials with extensive experience in public administration, proven leadership and good management skills.

Mr Wong also thanked Mr Leung for his loyal and dedicated service to the government and making an exemplary contribution to the development of Hong Kong.

2. Kowloon Tong tender offer
ERNEST KONG, SCMP 16 November 2005

Joy Garden in Kowloon Tong

Developers are eyeing the joint development potential of a 30-year-old residential property in Kowloon Tong that has been put up for tender by individual owners.

Owners of 53 units of the 56-unit Joy Garden at 3 Alnwick Road recently appointed property consultant Colliers International to offer the properties for sale by tender.

Even though three of the units have not been put up for sale, the building is being offered under collective sale because the enactment of the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance in 1998 allows property owners who hold more than 90 per cent of a building to apply to the Lands Tribunal for an order to force the sale of all properties in their building.

Herrick Lee, a director of the investment division at Colliers International, said the site would be especially attractive to developers because of its potential to be jointly developed with adjacent sites

Cheung Kong (Holdings) last year bought 46 of 50 units of the nearby Fortune Villa at 4 to 22 Alnwick Road for $242 million at auction.

The price paid by Cheung Kong was almost double the transacted prices for similar units in the secondary market at the time.

"If [Joy Garden and Fortune Villa] is to be jointly developed, the developer can build a residential project with up to 270,000 sqft of gross floor area," said Mr Lee.

He said owners of another nearby property, Moonbeam Terrace, were also considering a collective sale by public tender.

"If the three sites were to be jointly developed, the total gross floor area of the project could be as large as 340,000 sqft, which is only a bit smaller than Sino Land's Mount Beacon in the district," said Mr Lee.

Built in 1975, Joy Garden comprises two seven-storey blocks with 56 units ranging from 1,200 to 1,300 sq?ft. The property was built on a plot ratio of 2.1, which could be raised to 3 for a maximum developable gross floor area of about 100,000 sqft after negotiating a new land premium with the government.

Colliers International expects the land premium required for increasing the plot ratio to be about $6,000 to $7,000 per sqft.

Victor Lui-ting, an executive director of Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, the sales and marketing arm of the major developer, recently said the developer had no interest in the project.

3. Developing Tamar into prime civic core accords with community long-term interest
Hong Kong Government, 16 November 2005

Developing Tamar as Hong Kong's prime civic core fulfils the planning objective for the site and accords with the long-term interest of the community.

In a paper submitted to the Legislative Council (Legco)'s Panel on Planning Lands and Works, the Government sets out the reasons for the relaunch of the Tamar development project. The paper also outlines the implementation plan of the project and measures to be taken to address the environmental concerns raised by certain sectors of the community in the past few months.

A spokesman for the Administration Wing, which co-ordinates the project, said today (November 16) that the proposal to develop the Tamar site aligned with Central District (Extension) Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). The OZP has gone through the necessary statutory procedures and due process of public consultation from 1998 before its approval by the Executive Council in 2000 pursuant to the recommendation of the Town Planning Board.

"The project incorporates the design and construction of the proposed Central Government Complex, Legco Complex, Civil Place and other ancillary facilities. In April and May, 2003, the Administration consulted the Panel on Planning Lands and Works and the Public Works Subcommittee of Legco and obtained their support for the project," the spokesman said.

However, in view of the need to assess the impact of the SARS outbreak on the economy and public finances, the Government put on hold its submission to the Finance Committee and later announced the decision to defer the project in November, 2003.

"Notwithstanding the deferral, the Government had stated then that developing the Tamar site into Hong Kong's prime civic core remained the Government's long-term commitment," the spokesman said.

Given the improvement in the Government's financial position, the Administration considers it timely to relaunch the Tamar project now. The construction of the Central Government Complex and Legco Complex will solve the ongoing problems of acute shortfall of office space faced by both the Government Secretariat and Legco; and of rising maintenance costs. The implementation of the project will also bring job opportunities for the construction industry which has been hard hit by unemployment.

"In view of public aspiration for preserving as much open view as possible to the ridgeline and the harbour, and their concern over the intensity of new development at Tamar, the Administration has decided to excise the Exhibition Gallery in the original plan from the re-launched project.

"To protect the ridgeline, the Administration is considering the feasibility of imposing a specific height restriction of 130 metres to 160 metres PD (i.e. Principal Datum) as the maximum height ceiling for new buildings to be developed at Tamar," the spokesman said.

The Administration attached great importance to the design of the project, its integration with the construction process, and the need to achieve early implementation. Hence, a two-stage tender exercise to select the design-and-build contractor would be conducted. The first-stage exercise of prequalification will be initiated before the end of this year. The project is envisaged to commence in 2007 and be completed in 2010, subject to funding approval by Legco.