Real estate market
Written by: Cai Weinan
2021-03-22 07:30
Last update date: 2021-03-22 07:30
SHKP (0016) acquired the commercial land king over the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station in November 2019 for 42.232 billion yuan. The development plan submitted earlier changed the original design of three buildings to two, and the building height was relaxed 24 Meters to 44 meters, an increase of 27% to 38% compared to the original plan, but the plan was rejected by the Town Planning Board in January this year.
SHKP’s latest decision is to deepen its plan in the next one to two months and submit it to the Town Planning Board in the second half of the year. There is a chance that the height of the building will be adjusted downwards.
In order to improve the plan, the group will invite a design company to serve as the "curator" of the project to re-examine the design of the public space. It is expected that a survey will be conducted in the short term to collect opinions from the public.
Xindi: The plan only affects the ridgeline of one viewpoint
The city planning committee will pay attention to whether the building height of the project will affect the ridgeline, which becomes the key to the passage of the plan.
Mak Meng Tian, project director of the Special Development Department of SHKP Agency, said that the group had conducted an on-site inspection at a strategic viewpoint designated by the Town Planning Board and found that among the 4 viewpoints from Hong Kong Island towards Kowloon, only the one at Central Pier 7 Only at the viewing point will the ridgeline behind the project’s breakthrough be discovered, and the impact is considered to be quite minor.
Other locations, such as the Peak, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park in Sai Yingpan, did not have similar problems.
He also pointed out that there will be extremely high new buildings in Kowloon in the future, not to mention the approval of the Town Planning Board.
For example, the former government land on Sai Yee Street in Mong Kok, the original site of the Water Supplies Department Building, will be tendered in the future to build a 75-storey skyscraper with a height of 320 meters for office, hotel, retail and entertainment purposes.
Three skyscrapers in Kowloon will affect the ridgeline in the future
The redevelopment plan of the Ocean Center in Tsim Sha Tsui Harbour City currently allows the construction of a 386.7-meter-high integrated commercial development project; the redevelopment project of the Seaman’s Club at No. 11 Middle Road, owned by the Empire Group in the same district, has been approved for construction. The building is about 175.5 meters high and provides a 42-story commercial building.
Although there may be three projects affecting the ridgeline of Kowloon in the future, Mak Mengtian said that when SHKP re-submitted the revised plan in the second half of the year, it also tended to lower the height of the building in response to the concern of the Town Planning Board. However, the actual reduction has not yet been achieved. Real numbers.
To some market participants earlier that the height has been specified during the bidding of the project and that it cannot be changed in the future, Mai Mengtian pointed out that the statement is incorrect.
He pointed out that there are provisions in the tender documents that if the developer can propose a better and more prominent design than the original proposal, the height limit of the building can be adjusted upwards, so there is no unfair situation.
And after the height is increased, the total floor area of the entire project has not changed.
He continued that the initial plan of the project was designed in 2010, which is only a draft and not a perfect plan. The market has anticipated future adjustments.
The development cost does not have a major impact. The expected development period is 5 to 6 years.
Asked whether the city planning committee’s veto of the project plan at the beginning of this year will increase the development cost of the entire project, Mengtian Mai said that when entering the bidding for the project, the factors that caused the design plan to be rejected were counted, but because the project has been completed Piling saves a certain amount of time and cost, so the current development cost has not changed significantly.
However, he also expects that the project design plan will not be delayed forever, and the expected development period will range from 5 to 6 years, which is a normal commercial project development period.
SHKP has previously added many elements to the public space design of the project, such as the design of a green trail in the West Kowloon Garden to bridge the connection between the new West Kowloon district and the old district. However, the Town Planning Board believes that the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station and its vicinity have been provided For many open spaces, the proposed public space plan of SHKP is not outstanding and may not be a reason to relax the height of buildings.
SHKP's proposal is not so good that it becomes a reason for relaxation
SHKP Agency Real Estate Planning and Development Director Huang Shunhuan said that the project has shown great sincerity in the design of public space. Before submitting the new revised plan in the second half of the year, a design company will be invited to serve as the "curator" of the project to re-examine the public space. It is planned to add more elements of "place-making" (Place-making).
She also pointed out that the curator will conduct surveys in the short term to collect opinions from the public to optimize the functions, facilities and management of public spaces, hoping to provide a humane and inclusive community space.
Wong also stated that the project plans to further expand the open space on the second floor to strengthen the connection with the green trails of the West Kowloon Garden, and will also design hierarchical greening platforms and set up a large number of landscaping, which will be set up in the garden green trails. Certain supply stations are available for public use.
The rezoning of the commercial project above the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station was rejected at the beginning of the year. SHKP’s application for review decision was rejected
SHKP West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station's commercial project concept map exposed and reduced to 2 commercial buildings
SHKP won over 42.2 billion bids for the commercial land above the West Kowloon High-speed Railway Station, with nearly 10 billion bids
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Xindi High Speed Rail West Kowloon Station City Planning Council