SHUN Tak Holdings is finalising designs for its long-stalled Belcher Gardens redevelopment after winning over the last handful of protesting property owners affected by the scheme. The giant scheme in western Mid-Levels won approval from the Town Planning Board in May. Shun Tak proposes to construct up to 10 38-45 storey residential towers on the site in Pokfulam Road, at a cost of about $2 billion. Anthony Chan, Shun Tak director, said the luxury development project would replace about 224 units in four-storey buildings which were built to house civil servants about 40 years ago. It is the oldest such housing project in Hong Kong, with an existing plot ratio of less than one. Mr Chan said the Government would allow Shun Tak Holdings a plot ratio of 7.56 for the residential component of the redevelopment project, which will allow for a gross floor area of 2.27 million square feet. The 2,252 units will be divided into three basic sizes, small 600-800 sq ft, medium 800-1,100 sq ft, and large 1,100-1,500 sq ft. The complex will include a 200,000 sq ft commercial centre, a nursery, a kindergarten, an activity centre for the elderly, and a 16,000 sq ft clubhouse. Also planned are swimming pools, more than 50,000 sq ft of public park and 146,000 sq ft of private open space. There also will be car parking for 606 vehicles. Shun Tak had to obtain approval from at least 75 per cent of the members of the Hong Kong Civil Servants Co-operative Building Society before development could proceed at the site. Shun Tak's negotiations with residents of Chatham Gardens in Kowloon, another estate owned by the co-operative which it would like to redevelop, remain stalled after more than a year. A handful of Chatham residents have been holding out, unhappy about the compensation packages they have been offered which are lower than those offered to their counterparts at Belcher Gardens. Shun Tak said the Chatham Gardens residents had been offered less, because the planned redevelopment of the site was less ambitious. Compensation for both groups included the cost of a new flat. Shun Tak must now come to an agreement with the government on the amount of land premium they must pay for Belcher Gardens redevelopment, Mr Chan said.