25 Hong Kong and mainland Chinese developers bid for Tsing Yi site despite ‘not that ideal’ assessment

The tender for a residential site in Tsing Yi attracted 25 bids on Friday, with developers ignoring the site’s location and small size in a sign of hunger for land in the world’s most expensive city. 

The site, at the junction of Liu To Road and Hang Mei Street, has a maximum gross floor area of 102,000 sq ft, and its estimated land premium could be between HK$660 million, or HK$6,500 per square feet, and HK$920 million, or HK$9,000 per square feet. 

The site is expected to provide 150 to 200 small-to-middle sized units, according to Thomas Lam, a senior director with Knight Frank, with total investment by the developer expected to be up to HK$1.2 billion. Its selling price could reach HK$17,000 per square feet. 

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“There are quite a number of developers who have participated in the tender, showing their eagerness to get land,” said Lam. “Recently, it has been really difficult to buy land in Hong Kong.” 

Developers big and small have bid for the public tender. These include CK Asset Holdings, Wheelock Properties, Sino Land Company as well as their major Chinese rivals, such as Country Garden, despite the location of the site being described as “not that ideal” by analysts.  

The site is surrounded by public housing estates and the schools in the neighbourhood are not top-notch, according to Lam. James Cheung, an executive director at Centaline Surveyors, said residents need to take public transport to go to Tsing Yi Station, the nearest MTR stop. 

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However, Cheung said Tsing Yi was a hotspot for local people to get on to the housing ladder in Hong Kong.

On Friday, the CCL home price index for the secondary market rose by 1.53 per cent week on week to 177.61, a record high, according to Centaline Property Agency. CCL Mass, which reflects the price of major residential estates in the city, also recorded a new high of 178, up 2.08 per cent. The increase was also the largest jump in the past 21 weeks, showing no signs of cooling off in the property market despite the increase in US interest rates. 

The tender for a residential project site near Ko Chiu Road in Yau Tong, southeastern Kowloon, has also opened, the MTR Corporation said on Friday. The estimated land premium for this site is HK$1.51 billion, or HK$4,657 per square feet, according to the tender document. 

The site has a gross floor area of 325,300 sq ft and is expected to supply around 500 apartments to the market.

The tender will close on May 4, and about 36 letters of intent have been received so far.