Basement woes could get deeper

Arts hub bosses could be storing up problems for the future and risking even higher costs by taking the politically easier option of splitting work on the site's vast basement into phases, construction experts say.

The basement is intended to keep the West Kowloon Cultural District car-free, linking nearby roads and providing parking and loading facilities.

But it has become a hot potato since Wednesday, when it was revealed that the work would cost HK$23 billion if it were to be finished in one go. The authority overseeing the arts hub told lawmakers it was instead dividing the basement into six sections, to be finished in at least three phases. But experts say that approach brings its own problems.

"Asking for a smaller sum of money from lawmakers each time could be an easy way out politically. But the problem is that the later it is built, the costlier the whole project would be. In the end, it's taxpayers paying the money," said Chau Kwong-wing, chair professor in the department of real estate and construction at the University of Hong Kong.

Chau, who was commissioned by the Legislative Council in 2008 to review the government's proposed budget for the arts hub, estimates that construction costs will rise by an average of 8 per cent per year, based on increases of between 6 and 14 per cent in each of the last four years.

The government announced last year that it would put in HK$10 billion for basement work and other infrastructure improvements on the site - on top of the HK$21.6 billion endowment it gave the arts hub in 2008.