Sun Hung Kai to step up a gear in mainland with major launches
Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's second-largest developer by market value, will announce several major new residential projects in the mainland in a couple of months, according to vice-chairman Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong.
'Those projects are quite good,' Mr Kwok said, after a visit to a homeowner at the BeneVille, an SHKP project in Hong Kong. SHKP's new mainland projects came as other developers stepped up expansion.
Beijing Capital Land yesterday said it bought a site in Chengdu, which could be developed into 440,000 square metres of gross floor area, for 428 million yuan.
Early this month, sources said Shimao Group, controlled by the mainland's second-richest man, Hui Wing-mau, signed a memorandum of understanding to buy a prime development site in Beijing for 1.4 billion yuan.
China Resources paid almost three billion yuan for two residential-commercial sites in Wuhan at an auction. In February, Swire said it would team up with Hong Kong property fund Gateway Capital to buy a retail-hotel development in Sanlitun in Beijing at 4.8 billion yuan.
In Hong Kong, SHKP would provide a two-year maintenance for flats to be delivered this year, up from the industry's practice of one year, Mr Kwok said.
Its residential developments, including Harbour Green in Tai Kok Tsui, Park Island phase five in Ma Wan, the Vineyard in Yuen Long, Manhattan Hill in Lai Chi Kok and 8 Severn Road, will be entitled to the new benefit with immediate effect.
'A longer period of maintenance will minimise flat buyers' psychological pressure [about the quality],' Mr Kwok said.
Mr Kwok rejected the suggestion that the extended maintenance scheme was in response to the developer's 12.86 per cent decline in half-year profit ended December last year. 'We are confident that our full-year property sales will be strong,' he said.
Surveyor SK Pang said it was more a strategy to improve corporate image as no significant cost increase would be incurred. 'It is a kind of strengthening the after-sales service. Home seekers will be lured to projects with more incentives,' he said.
