Wharf's property development and planning assistant chief manager Ricky Wong Kwong-yiu said the group generally was satisfied with the development scale, although the proposed plot ratio was not as high as it had proposed.

'We are unlikely to strike for a higher plot ratio of 7.5 times as we proposed in 1999, because the height restriction was limited [for further increment],' he said.

The rezoning of areas along Kai Hing Road for comprehensive development has streamlined the consortium's redevelopment, which comprises Wharf's Kowloon Godown, Kerry's Kerry D.G. Godown and industrial premises owned by Nan Fung.

The developers need only to submit a master development plan with an environmental-impact study to get the project going.

Mr Wong said the redevelopment could be the first private property project in the Southeast Kowloon redevelopment area.

He said the schedule would be subject to agreements among developers and the Government's process of lease modification.

Shareholdings among the developers was not confirmed, but Wharf held the largest portion of the site for development, he said.

The preliminary proposal is for the godowns to be redeveloped into more than 3,000 small to medium-sized flats adding environmentally friendly facilities such as balconies to fit in with the philosophy of building an 'unpolluted city' in Southeast Kowloon.

The godown redevelopment is close to a planned cruise terminal and has views to Lei Yue Mun and Victoria Harbour.

The planned cruise terminal provides a maximum non-domestic gross floor area of 538,000 sq ft for tourism-related use, such as commercial space, hotels and museums.

The latest zoning plan outlining future redevelopment of Kai Tak and Southeast Kowloon reclamation was gazetted last Friday. Southern Kai Tak covers a total development area of 281 hectares. A total population of 139,700 should be in the area by 2012. Northern Kai Tak, covering the former Kai Tak airport terminal, has a total area of 176 ha and should accommodate a population of 119,000.

Building height restrictions have been set to uphold the stepped building concept to maintain views of the peaks and ridge lines of the Kowloon hills.

On the runway area, residential developments along the harbour front can rise to a maximum height of 60 metres above Hong Kong Principal Datum (mPD) and those inland to a maximum of 140 mPD. Principal datum is a level used by surveyors, which is 1.23 metres below the mean sea level.

In the future town centre, near the proposed To Kwa Wan railway station, residential developments are set at 45 to 75 mPD on the waterfront and up to 125 mPD inland.

Along the Metropolitan Park, residential developments are restricted to 85 to 110 mPD.

The tallest developments in the plan can be up to 205 mPD.

Maximum building height in northern Kai Tak ranges from 120 to 180 mPD for residential developments.

Building developments along the linear open-space corridor are restricted to 110mPD.

Plot ratios of residential-use land ranges from 3.5 times to 8.5 times, including a ratio of 0.5 to one time for non-domestic use.