Visitors to Hong Kong reduce abandoned buildings in Yau Tong beachfront

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Written by: Zhang Jiamin

2020-01-17 17:53

A number of beachfront sites on Cha Kwo Ling Road in Yau Tong have recently applied to the Town Planning Board for conversion to a commercial building. According to the Town Planning Board documents, the site is now an industrial building and an ice factory. In 2014, it applied to the Town Planning Board for conversion to a hotel and was approved.

The applicant stated that due to the recent significant decrease in the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong from last year, the original application for rezoning was considered to be inconsistent with the sluggish tourism industry, and the relevant land use was revised.

Application for rezoning of Yau Tong waterfront site for commercial building development. (Paper of the Town Planning Board)

The site for rezoning involves multiple sites, over 170,000 square feet, including two private waterfront sites on Cha Kwo Ling Road in Yau Tong and adjacent to the Eastern Harbour Crossing. They are now Yau Tong Bay Ice Factory and Wing Shan Industrial Building; And adjacent to a number of government-owned land, now is the Cha Kwo Ling Salt Water Pumping Station and the Cha Kwo Ling Gas Checkpoint. The applicant intends to rezone the above-mentioned "Comprehensive Development Zone" to commercial land and two "Government, Institution or Community" zones, including the reconstruction of the existing Rongshan Industrial Building and Ice Factory for commercial use. Commercial buildings ranging from 24 to 29 storeys. In addition, a greening ratio of 30% will be provided in the development area. It is also proposed to add a landscaped platform on the Chaguoling Road gas checkpoint and connect it to one of the commercial buildings.

According to the Town Planning Board document, the applicant applied for rezoning of the Yau Tong Beachfront covering more than 1 million square feet of land in 2014. Among them, it is planned to convert the land involved in this application into a hotel, which is expected to provide 889 hotel rooms. Related applications were approved by the Town Planning Board. When the applicant proposed this amendment, he pointed out that because the number of overnight visitors to Hong Kong in August last year was more than 40% lower than the previous year, he believed that the application for hotel rezoning was inconsistent with the sluggish tourism industry. In addition, the applicant stated that the location is adjacent to the entrance of the East Tunnel and is not suitable for residential development, but it is adjacent to the MTR station and considers it to be a commercial development. As for the existing government oil pond maintenance depot and Cha Kwo Ling seawater pumping station, the applicant proposes to keep them.

According to the Land Registry, Wing Shan Industrial Building is held by Sun Life International Group Co., Ltd., whose director is Li Xiuheng, the chairman of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Chamber of Commerce; and the ice factory land is held by Hong Kong Ice Making and Refrigeration Co.

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Town Planning Board