The residential site at the junction of Sai Ning Street and Victoria Road in Kennedy Town, Sai Wan, was announced yesterday, with Wheelock Properties beating off the remaining five bidders to win the site at $1.72 billion, at a price of about $7,071 per square foot, in line with market expectations, but a new low of over 21 years. Compared to last November by the Xingye development, to 9,500 yuan per foot of floor space won the bid for mosquito-shaped residential land adjacent to Xining Street, the same district land prices in the past seven months down 25.5%.
The site area of about 24,326 square feet, can be used for commercial and residential purposes, purely residential count can be built up to 243,266 square feet of floor space. Mr. Leung Chi Kin, Chairman of Wheelock Properties, said he was very pleased to have won this rare and unique site with sea view on Hong Kong Island. The Group has rich experience in developing on Hong Kong Island and has launched several high-end residential projects in the same area, so it is very familiar with the advantages and characteristics of the area.
Mr. Lam Chi Bun, Director of Midland Surveyors, said that the site is now a bus terminal and there are certain restrictions on development. According to the terms of the land sale, the development of the site will require the relocation of the existing bus terminus, and the future reprovisioning works will lengthen the development period and increase additional costs. In addition, the site is now with the waterfront between the warehouse building, the future is expected to block the low-level units landscape, coupled with the current overall market conditions continue to adjust, so the developer bid more prudent can be expected.
Lin Zibin continued to point out that at the end of last year, a mosquito-type land in the same area to about 440 million yuan, the floor area price of about 9,500 yuan, so this time to the floor area price of 7,070 yuan, the price of the property has more than 20% discount. He believes that the government has responded to the market situation, in the reserve price has also been adjusted, and linked to the market situation.
Centaline Surveyors Cheung King Tat also said that the project's floor price hit a new low after June 2002 on Hong Kong Island, I believe that the complex terms of the development of the site, as well as the current economic environment is uncertain. The project development period is as long as 9 years, longer than the general project of 6 years, the risk is higher. U.S. interest rate hikes have led to high interest rates, rising construction costs, coupled with the lack of bids from domestic real estate companies, all factors have made developers very cautious in their bids. The lack of abortive bids for the site reflects the government's intention to push the land and strive to increase supply.
It is worth mentioning that the project is adjacent to the current Victoria Public Mortuary, but the mortuary has plans to move to the site at the western end of Victoria Road in 2028 at the earliest. In addition, although the project is close to the sea, but the opposite of the China Merchants Warehouse or redevelopment for shopping malls and hotels, so some units may not enjoy the sea view. As for the south plus the public housing will also be built on Wai Man Road, the same expected to block the landscape.
