Only 17 per cent of Pacific Century Group's hi-tech Cyberport project will be dedicated office space, while more than 75 per cent has been earmarked for residential development, opponents of the project say.
Cyberport - the proposed hi-tech enclave to be built on 26 hectares of prime, sea-front land near Pokfulam by the Richard Li-headed company - is supposed to help propel Hong Kong into the digital age and become an e-commerce hub in the region.
Calculations based on figures made available by the Government in its Cyberport Phasing Plan show that 75 per cent of the project will comprise luxury apartments and houses.
Barry Law, managing director of Ricacorp Properties, said even if the hi-tech part of Cyberport was a dismal failure, Mr Li would still make more than $6 billion net profit just for the residential development 'which will almost definitely be a success because of the full sea-view and lack of supply of residential development in that area'.
Mr Law based his figures on the assumption that the apartments at Cyberport would sell for about $6,000 per square feet.
'It is more like a property project than a hi-tech project,' he said, adding that Pacific Century's profit margin for the proposed development had been estimated conservatively about 50 per cent.