Demolition to allow 10th building
Swire Properties has come closer to realising its plan to add a 10th office building to its Taikoo Place commercial portfolio in Quarry Bay with approval to redevelop two old industrial properties.
The Aik San Factory Building and Melbourne Industrial Building will be demolished to make way for an 817,000 square-foot development, according to the plan approved by the Buildings Department.
Swire intends to develop a 36-storey office tower on the two industrial sites, at the junction of Westlands Road and Taikoo Shing Road. However, Swire is still awaiting a court ruling on the compulsory sale of the remaining stake in Melbourne Industrial Building in order to start construction of the project.
Swire has acquired 100 per cent of the Aik San Factory Building and a 96 per cent interest in the Melbourne Industrial Building. To acquire the remaining 4 per cent interest, it has applied to the Land Tribunal for a compulsory sale.
Swire Properties general manager of valuation and development Gordon Ongley said a court hearing was expected early next year, with construction to begin in 2003.
Swire has already started building another Taikoo Place project, Cambridge House, to be completed in 2003.
The Buildings Department has given the go-ahead to another Swire project - the Pacific Forum in Wan Chai. The developer has been allowed to build a 39-storey 612,000 sq ft office tower at Queen's Road East.
Earlier, Swire Properties director Jolyon Culbertson said the developer would have to spend HK$1.5 billion to build the project and was in talks with the Government to build a 200-metre tunnel linking it with Pacific Place in Admiralty, also a Swire development.
Meanwhile, the Buildings Department approved a CLP Holdings' redevelopment plan for its headquarters in Argyle Street, Mongkok.
The power company, controlled by the Kadoorie family, has received permission to build a 43-storey apartment building with a floor area of about 310,000 sq ft.
However, a CLP spokesman said there was no concrete plan for the project.
'We have no timetable for this redevelopment at this stage. We will review the utility of our assets from time to time.'
The CLP headquarters has a floor area of about 70,000 sq ft. Analysts said a redevelopment into residential properties would enhance the value of the site, given its proximity to a luxury residential area around Kadoorie Avenue.
The luxury hillside is largely owned by the Kadoorie family, which has tried to push ahead with high-rise redevelopments of two-storey residential blocks there.
However, the Town Planning Board turned down all four proposals submitted by the family.
One proposal suggested building four 68-storey residential towers of 1.88 million sq ft and the others proposed a 1.44 million sq ft redevelopment.
Separately, Sino Land has received approval to build 26 three-storey houses at Beas Stable in Sheung Shui. The developer won the site for HK$93 million in a public auction last year.
The Buildings Department approved 16 plans in September - six on Hong Kong Island, three in Kowloon and seven in the New Territories.
In the same month, consent was given for work to start on 15 projects, which will provide 315,000 sq ft of usable domestic floor area and 268,000 sq ft of usable non-domestic floor area.
