PCCW chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai appears poised to follow his father, Li Ka-shing, into the competitive fray of Hong Kong's mass residential property market. PCCW's Pacific Century Premium Developments (PCPD), which earlier signalled its intention to redevelop some of its parent's telephone exchange buildings into mass and upmarket residential developments, is now toying with the idea of bidding for two residential lots that are due for government auction next month. The properties for sale include an upmarket residential site in Ho Man Tin and a mass housing site in San Po Kong. Speaking after PCPD's annual general meeting, chief executive Robert Lee also said that PCPD would announce its first telephone exchange redevelopment project by next month, and expects to complete it in two to three years. Without giving details of the first project, Mr Lee said the company was planning to redevelop a number of PCCW-owned telephone exchange buildings into mass housing and luxury residential developments. The telephone exchange buildings PCPD was eyeing are believed to cover a gross floor area of one million square feet. According to Mr Lee, PCPD's exchange building redevelopments will be a key part of its Hong Kong expansion plans in view of the upbeat outlook for the property sector. He cited the return of inflation and further economic integration between Hong Kong and the mainland as factors fuelling the revival. He believed home prices would see an annual rise of 15 per cent over the next few years. Upmarket residential properties should see higher returns because of their relatively limited supply, he added.
