It is estimated the 800 units with mainly in the layouts of two-bedroom to three-bedroom will have synergy effects with phase 2.
(By Ngan Lun-lok)
The outlook for the property market is unclear, but real estate developers are still actively investing in the land since land resources are scarce. The application for MTR Wong Chuk Hang Station Phase 4 was closed last Wednesday and received six tenders. MTR announced yesterday that the consortium formed by Kerry Properties, Sino Land and Swire Properties won and would develop the project. According to the information, the project will build two buildings in the future, providing about 800 units. It is worth noting that Sino and Kerry have already won and invested the phase 2 of the project, so it is estimated that there will be synergy effects between the two.
The application for Wong Chuk Hang Station Phase 4 was closed on last Wednesday and received six tenders, and many local real estate developers were involved, including Cheung Kong, Henderson Land, and SHKP, also there were consortiums including the combination of Kerry, Sino and Swire Properties and the combination of Chinachem, China Overseas, and Wheelock. MTR announced yesterday that the consortium formed by Kerry, Swire and Sino Group won the bid.
Kerry: The project is rare and the cost is reasonable.
Kerry expresses, the project is a rare property on top of MTR station in the Hong Kong Island, and the company believes that the cost is reasonable, also points out that the project will mainly provide medium and large-sized units of two-bedroom or three-bedroom, besides many units among can enjoy open views of Ocean Park and Shouson Hill in Southern District. Swire Properties points out that it has been actively looking for opportunities to develop new residential projects in Hong Kong and describes Wong Chuk Hang as a region with growth potential, so this cooperation gives the Group an opportunity to make further investments in this region. The Vice-Chairman of Sino Land, Ng Win Kong expresses, the project is surrounded by vast landscapes in the south, and is located on the future shopping mall, also is adjacent to the MTR station, with great potential.
Swire Properties gains the MTR project again after 25 years.
Going through the data, at the end of 2017, Kerry and Sino have won Wong Chuk Hang Station Phase 2, which can built 492,000 sq ft and will provide about 550-600 units to the market in 2022 of the soonest, and they won this time to gain another town, also it is expected that there will be synergy effects between the two sites. As for Swire Properties, this is the second time to participate in the development of the MTR project in 25 years, and the previous project was the Tung Chung Station Phase 1 in 1995, when the project was won by Swire, Henderson, Hang lung, SHKP, and New World. Now it has been developed into Tung Chung Crescent, Citygate, and Seaview Crescent.
Wong Chuk Hang Station Phase 4 is located in the southeast of the entire Wong Chuk Hang Station. The residential floor area is about 638,300 sq ft. It will build two residential buildings supplying no more than 800 units. The market source points out that, the land premium of the project is over HKD6.757 billion, with each sq ft land premium price at HKD10,587, and the project tendering terms require the developer to pay 25% of the incomes from residential property portion as dividend ratio to the MTR in the future.
As with other MTR projects, tenderers were required to submit an overall tender price to the MTR. Simply based on the land price, the valuation of the land is about HKD9.5 -12.766 billion and the sq ft floor area land price is about HKD15,000-20,000.
The industry expects the sq ft price to above HKD28,000 in the future.
The executive director and director of the valuation and consulting department of the Knight Frank, Lam Ho-man expresses, the project being won by the consortium is beneficial to spread development risk and sell houses in the future, and believes developing real estate projects by joint venture will be a new trend due to the increasing land prices and development costs in recent years. In the long run, he believes that the supply of large-scale residential land of the MTR is limited, and the project has considerable advantages, also it is a real estate project along Hong Kong Island subway line, so the sq ft price after the completion of the project is estimated to be HKD28,000.
The Executive Director of Centaline Surveyors Limited, Cheong King-tat expresses, Wong Chuk Hang Station Phase 4 as a project on top of railway line has a certain of advantage, and it may enjoy the green mountain scenery due to the open landscapes, furthermore the land supply in Southern District of Hong Kong Island has always been rare and expensive, so the developing potential is large. According to the information, the project's land premium is the highest among the four phases of Wong Chuk Hang Station. In addition, the economic atmosphere in Hong Kong has been common in recent days, so bidding by consortium helps to reduce investment risk under the haze of the Sino-US trade war and the "social movements".
