It seems nothing - not even the dead - could dampen developers' appetite for luxury property in Hong Kong.
The government tender for a small and upscale Repulse Bay residential site - on which there is a grave - has generated a warm response from developers, signalling their eagerness to acquire land in prestigious locations.
A spokesman for the Lands Department said the 14,402 sq ft site near 35 South Bay Road drew 12 bids by the time its tender closed yesterday. By contrast, a larger plot in Sha Tin, spanning 86,080 sq ft and located at the junction of On Yiu and On Kwan streets, received just one bid.
According to the land sale document, the Repulse Bay site has an abandoned low-rise building as well as a grave. The cost of demolishing and removing these structures will be shouldered by the winning bidder.
'The responses showed that developers' interest in luxury housing sites is not dampened by the existence of a grave on the lot,' said Ringo Lam Chun-chiu, valuation director at surveying company AG Wilkinson & Associates.
'Such a small site will not involve big amounts of capital and therefore it will attract a large number of developers,' he said.
