What do you think of the revised Mega Tower project?
Hopewell Holdings has made it clear it is willing to listen to public opinion and so it will cut its proposed Mega Tower in Wan Chai by 38 floors ('HK$20m plan to save trees at tower site', November 20).
This will be the first project in Hong Kong where the developer is not seeking to maximise the gross floor area. In terms of maximising on the land value, it is not a wise commercial decision and Hopewell probably owes its shareholders a solid explanation as to the rationale behind making such a drastic decision.
On the other hand, the public will welcome the move and the project may not seem so 'mega' now.
It is still a mystery how the government endorsed this project in 1994, given the traffic problems, which are even worse today. Will the scaled-down plan ease fears of projected traffic problems? This will not be made clear until details of a traffic impact assessment are made public.
We have to ask if the revised hotel plan will be compatible with the environment and will it really bring new life to Wan Chai district? I am not convinced.
Wan Chai is a historic area and the key activities in the district happen at street level.