The grim office market prospects have seen Chinese Estates Holdings slash the office portion of an urban-renewal development in Wan Chai in exchange for more residential space. The revised plan, approved yesterday by the Town Planning Board, will cut the office floor area to 30,120 square feet - a reduction of 93 per cent. The residential space will rise 49 per cent to 424,900 sq ft. Analysts said the company's move was logical as the residential market's prospects were better. The redevelopment project in Tai Yuen Street is a joint venture between Chinese Estates and the Land Development Corp (LDC). They started the acquisition of properties which will be affected by the project several years ago. LDC and Chinese Estates decided to change the original plan to make the project predominantly residential despite an almost 40 per cent reduction in the total floor area of the project. Under the new plan, they can develop a floor area of 484,300 sq ft, down from the original proposal's 769,000 sq ft. The project also includes 29,216 sq ft of retail space. Analysts believe residential units on the site could sell for $5,000 to $6,000 per square foot, while office units may bring only $3,000 to $4,000 per square foot. The higher price which could be expected for the residential units was enough to motivate the developers to accept the sharp reduction in the total floor area of the development, according to the analysts. The 69,151 sq ft site covers several streets and many old buildings. The project will go ahead when all the units in the buildings involved have been purchased. PROPERTY