News Stories:

Click-on these handy "jump links" to quickly access the news item
you're looking for.

1.Prime sites ready for sale after development density lowered

2. Lai Sun eyes HK$524m share sale to fund land acquisitions

1. Prime sites ready for sale after development density lowered
CHLOE LAI , SCMP 18 November 2006

A waterfront site in North Point and a plot of land in Central will be ready for sale within months after the Town Planning Board's metro planning committee yesterday endorsed a plan to lower their development density.

The government was last year forced to review the development of the two prime sites - the former government supply depot in Oil Street and the former police married quarters in Hollywood Road - after two concern groups challenged the plans.

At the time, the plots were already on the land application list, from which a bid by a developer can trigger a sale.

Under the Planning Department's proposal, there will now be a 43 per cent cut in the total gross floor area at the Oil Street site. At the Hollywood Road site - where remnants of the former school of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen have been found - only two 43-storey residential blocks can be built. The original plan permitted three 50-storey buildings.

The decision drew criticism from both sides of the debate, with a pro-business legislator accusing the committee of bowing to political pressure, and a concern group bemoaning the loss of heritage.

The original Oil Street plan allowed for 123,470 square metres of floor space, but the new plan allows just 70,200 square metres. More stringent height restrictions have also been imposed - 100 metres for the commercial buildings closer to the harbour, and 120 metres for the residential buildings.

The Planning Department said the revised plan allowed a better living environment, more sunlight penetration into the neighbourhood, and more visual relief for the congested area.

Government planners will consult the Harbour-front Enhancement Committee and Eastern District Council and return to the board for formal endorsement before the Lands Department makes the plan part of the land sale conditions.

At the Hollywood Road site, relics including a wall, trees growing from it, a lower platform, and granite steps of the former school will have to be preserved. Two granite pillars must also be kept, although they can be moved.

Central and Western District Council will be consulted on the proposal. The final plan will be added to land sale conditions.

"I am sad to see heritage giving way to development," Mid-Levels Concern Group representative Roger Ho Yao-sheng said. He hoped the district council would consult the public, saying people should be given a chance to tell the authorities of their preferred land use for the site.

Legislator Abraham Razack, of The Alliance, was disappointed by the committee's decision.

"It shouldn't bow to political pressure. It has to uphold its principle, that is to optimise the use of every site."

2. Lai Sun eyes HK$524m share sale to fund land acquisitions
WONG KA-CHUN and CAROL CHAN , SCMP 18 November 2006

Lai Sun Development, a medium-size Hong Kong property owner, is selling HK$524 million worth of new shares through a top-up placement to fund land acquisitions, market sources said.

The developer, controlled by Executive Council member Peter Lam Kin-ngok, is marketing the shares at an indicative range of 35.7 HK cents to 37 HK cents per share, an up to 8.3 per cent discount to Thursday's closing price of 39 HK cents, according to a sale document obtained by institutional investors.

Shares in the company were suspended from trading yesterday morning.

The offering, arranged by JP Morgan, marks the first time the company is tapping the equity market in a decade. "Fund managers are surprised but they understand the firm has become more aggressive in the local property market recently," said a person close to the transaction.

It is joining a slew of companies, including fellow developers Hang Lung Property and Henderson Land , that have placed shares in the past month to cash in on the surging stock market, which has sent the Hang Seng Index to record highs.

Analysts expect the proceeds will be used to pay for the acquisition of a site in Wan Chai, which Lai Sun and AIG Global Real Estate Investment ( Asia ) agreed to buy in September.

The acquisition was the firm's first land purchase in Hong Kong since 1997.

Lai Sun estimates the total project cost will be around HK$1.5 billion, including the land price of HK$595 million and construction cost of HK$920 million.

Lai Sun also plans to redevelop its 65 per cent owned Ritz-Carlton into a hotel and office complex, allowing it to tap the rising office rents in Central. "Due to the limited supply of Grade A office in the prime business location, the decision is in the right direction," said a fund manager.

Lai Sun posted a HK$512.9 million net profit for the year ended July, from a HK$705.96 million loss a year earlier.