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Sandy Li

Chinachem Group is proposing to build a hotel tower and a hotel-office block in a multi-billion-dollar development in Tsuen Wan. The site was originally earmarked for the 108-storey Nina Tower.

 In the latest blueprint submitted to the Buildings Department, the company controlled by Nina Wang proposed a 46-storey hotel and a 79-storey hotel-office, rising to the permissible maximum of 324 metres - higher than any building in Tsuen Wan - a source at Chinachem said.

 The two million square foot project, still named Nina Tower, would provide about 500,000 sq ft of office space, with the remainder for hotel use.

 The number of hotel rooms had yet to be finalised but Chinachem expected the project to benefit from the construction of a West Rail station in Tsuen Wan, the source said.

 The group expected more hotels to be developed in Tsuen Wan, making the district a hotel destination similar to Tsim Sha Tsui East. The project would take three to four years.

 In 1997, height restrictions forced the scrapping of the original Nina Tower project.

 Investment for the revised development on the 210,000 sq ft site in Yeung Uk Road is expected to drop below $10 billion due to decreased construction costs.

 The latest proposal is still awaiting approval. The development has been delayed by the height dispute since Chinachem bought the site in 1991.

 Chinachem is engaged in litigation with the Government, claiming compensation for postponement of development on the site.

 The hotel proposal is being circulated to relevant authorities and departments, sources said.

  The Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA) said it would look at the site's accessibility and environment 'as we do not want a hotel next to a noisy factory', a spokesman said.

 The association had suggested to the Government that it set up a mechanism to conduct analysis of demand and supply in the hotel industry, he said.

 The HKTA believes there will be demand for hotels, despite the market downturn, but surveyors remain conservative on returns of hotels, particularly in fringe areas.

 SK Pang Surveyors & Co managing director Pang Shiu-kee said Chinachem's site could supply more than 1,000 hotel rooms similar to Hopewell Holdings' Kowloon Panda Hotel in Tsuen Wan.

 It would be difficult for the district to support another large hotel development during this time of weakness in the sector, he said.

 The Government previously had identified a site adjacent to Chinachem's proposed development for hotel use.



Chinachem submits new plan for Nina Tower site