Government may collect HK$4.86b from North Point and Kau To tenders

The government is expected to collect up to HK$4.86 billion from selling a hotel site and a residential plot, which should attract keen interest from buyers, according to surveyors.

The harbourfront hotel site in North Point and the luxury residential site in Kau To, Sha Tin, were opened for tender yesterday. The tender period will close on March 22.

"The North Point site is in the limelight because it's next to the harbour on Hong Kong Island, and the response from buyers to the government's previous sales of hotel sites was good," said Centaline Surveyors' director James Cheung King-tat.

The site is also located close to an MTR station, which was another advantage, Cheung said.

The 57,792 square foot site could yield a maximum gross floor area of 387,504 square feet, and Centaline estimates that it should sell for about HK$3.49 billion, or HK$9,000 per buildable square foot.

In August 2011, Cheung Kong won a land parcel on Oil Street in North Point for hotel and residential development with a bid of HK$6.27 billion, which equated to a price of HK$8,294 per buildable square foot.

Other surveying firms such as Cushman & Wakefield and Midland Surveyors estimated that the North Point site should have a price tag of HK$2.71 billion, or HK$7,000 per square foot on the basis of gross floor area.