Twelve line up for Tuen Mun re-tender
Twelve developers, including eight from the original shortlist for the Tuen Mun Station project, have lined up in the re-tendering of the mass residential project, shelved last year due to lack of interest because the land premium was considered too steep.
The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp said the developers included Sun Hung Kai Properties, Cheung Kong (Holdings), Sino Land, Kerry Properties, New World Development, Wheelock Properties, Hang Lung Properties, Henderson Land, Nan Fung Development and China Overseas (Holdings).
KCRC, which is negotiating with the Lands Department for a cut in the land premium, said it was consulting developers on whether to split payment into two phases, as suggested by Nan Fung.
Hang Lung executive director Terry Ng Sze-yuen said: 'We have confirmed our interest in the project. But we have to study the new land premium first. We cannot say we will join the tender at this stage. As the group can afford the land premium, we have suggested paying the land premium in one phase.'
The Lands Department had set a levy of about $3.4 billion or $3,500 per square foot for the project last year, higher than the market expectation of below $3,000 per square foot. Eight shortlisted developers had been invited for the tender but only Cheung Kong submitted a bid.
Savills director Charles Chan Chiu-kwok believes the government has to cut the land premium by at least 20 per cent to about $2.5 billion to attract the developers.
The 2.65 hectare Tuen Mun site - to be developed in two phases - comprises seven residential towers on a podium with retail shops and community facilities. It will provide 1,924 units with a total gross floor area of 1.55 million square feet.
