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Olga Wong

Developer rethinking plans for 93-storey Wan Chai hotel
The design of the 93-storey Mega Tower Hotel that Hopewell Holdings wants to build in Wan Chai could be changed in response to public concerns, the government has revealed.
The Development Bureau said it understood that Hopewell would revise the design of the controversial project. But even if it pressed ahead with the huge tower, the government could use land lease conditions to minimise the development's adverse effects on the landscape.
The assurances came in response to public concerns about the development that resurfaced after the Lands Department revealed early this month that it had begun negotiations with Hopewell on a land swap needed for the Mega Tower project.
They also come amid criticism of loopholes in the urban planning system that allow development plans to remain valid 14 years after being approved.
A Hopewell spokeswoman said the company was having a 'friendly discussion' with the government, and would heed public concerns.
'Our goal is to start the project as soon as possible,' she said.
Hopewell has submitted at least seven plans to the Town Planning Board for the project since 1985. The latest plan - for two 58-storey hotels, proposed in 2005 - was rejected by the board, and an appeal against that decision was adjourned. The only approved plan, a 1994 one comprising a 93-storey hotel tower and two public open areas,  is still valid.
Under the 1994 plan, the project will encompass a 10,313-square- metre site in Kennedy Road. Half of the site  is government land, for which Hopewell must swap some of its own.
Opponents of the development have urged the government to scupper it by stopping the land exchange.
'The Lands Department should not facilitate the development through land exchange. That is the only way to stop the project, which will block views and air flows,' said Sally Ho-Emmerton, of the Kennedy Road Protection Group.
She also said it was unfair of the government to cap building heights on southern areas of Kennedy Road while leaving the Mega Tower site uncapped.
The Development Bureau said the government must respect an approved plan and should not arbitrarily withhold or delay the land- exchange application.
However, the tower's design could be revised, a spokesman said.
'The government understands that the developer may introduce some late changes to the 1994 approved scheme to address public sentiment that has emerged in recent years,' the spokesman said, adding that such revisions must go through town planning procedures.
A Planning Department source said more stringent height and plot ratio restrictions would be added to the Wan Chai Outline Zoning Plan, but they would not apply to the approved project.
'We understand the public is worried about the project, but nothing can be done to stop an approved plan,' the source said.
The bureau did not reveal any new design details for the Mega Tower but said a grade one historic building on Nam Koo Terrace would be refurbished by the developer.
If the 1994 plan went ahead, Hopewell would be asked to submit a landscape proposal as a lease condition to ensure adverse effects on the area were minimised, it said.
The Transport Department estimates the Mega Tower will increase traffic on Kennedy Road by 25 per cent and on Queen's Road by 8 per cent.



Mega Tower design 'may be changed'