Island Lodge set for launch
Swire to market North Point residential project in September
Island Lodge, a North Point residential development due for completion in early 2009, will be marketed in September, according to co-developers Swire Properties and China Motor Bus.
The 45-storey, 184-unit project offers apartments that range in size from 800 square feet to 1,200 sq ft. About 40 per cent are two-bedroom units, while most have three- or four-bedroom layouts.
There is also an undisclosed number of larger units of between 1,500 sq ft and 2,200 sq ft on the top floors of the development.
Swire Properties would not disclose target prices, but senior sales manager Mabelle Ma said the latest prices in two developments - The Orchards in Quarry Bay and Les Saisons in Sai Wan Ho - could provide an indicator.
According to data from Centaline Property Agency, units in The Orchards sold for prices ranging from HK$6,793 to HK$8,300 per square foot.
La Place de Victoria is the most recent development in North Point.
Danny Ho, district sales director of Centaline Property Agency, said prices of typical units without a sea view at the project ranged from HK$5,460 to HK$6,500 per square foot.
Units with sea views reached HK$15,000 per square foot when the project was launched in 2005.
Island Lodge is the latest residential project developed by Swire Properties after the developer launched The Orchards in 2003.
It is located on the site of the former staff quarters of China Motor Bus at the junction of Java Road and Kam Hong Street and is a three-minute walk from the North Point MTR station.
In a departure from the current development trend, the project adopts a floor-to-ceiling window in the living room instead of a balcony.
The building height was set at 160 metres and since the Town Planning Board has imposed a 100-metre building height restriction on the former North Point Estate site in front of Island Lodge, only upper level units in the development will have harbour views after the completion of the North Point Estate redevelopment project.
The development will be the only new project in North Point released this year.
A residential project at Wo Fung Street in Sai Ying Pun, developed by Pacific Century Premium Developments, will be another medium-range development released on Hong Kong Island this year.
Transactions in North Point had been active in the last few weeks, said Andy Chuang, director of Ricacorp Properties. He said Provident Centre and City Garden remained the most popular housing estates in the district.
