Green groups launch protest; plan is too expensive: scholar
The unit cost of building the Tamar project will be almost double that of the Two IFC office tower, a University of Hong Kong specialist has claimed.
Wong Kwok-chun, an associate professor in the university's Centre for Real Estate and Urban Economics, estimated that the Tamar construction cost would be about $30,974 a square metre. The 88-storey tower of the International Finance Centre cost $15,980 a square metre.
This means the total cost for Tamar, including site works, building services, footbridges and contingencies, will be $3.9 billion, compared with $2.9 billion for Two IFC.
The government last night dismissed the comparison as 'erroneous and misleading'. It has estimated the unit construction cost will be only $11,600 a square metre; this excludes foundation works, unlike Professor Wong's unit cost estimate. The government plans to ask the Legislative Council for $5.17 billion for the project, a figure that includes construction and non-construction costs.
Professor Wong defended his comparison, saying it was based on government information released to Legco and internal documents he had obtained from the IFC.