Zhuhai announces tender for plot near Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, with bidding to start at US$793 million

Zhuhai betting on increase in business travel in Greater Bay Area, Vincorn Consulting and Appraisal says

Hong Kong developers such as New World Development, Sun Hung Kai Properties may take part

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The plot, near the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, is the largest allocated for hotels and exhibition purposes in Zhuhai in recent years. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 5:30pm, 24 Sep 2019Updated: 1:23pm, 12 Nov 2020

The southern Chinese city of Zhuhai has announced a tender process for what will be one of the largest hotel and exhibition centres near the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, as it bets on an increase in business travel in the Greater Bay Area.

The city’s government announced on Thursday that a tender for a 226,000 square metre plot of land to the north of Zhuhai port will open on October 9, and it will be auctioned off on October 18. Its price starts at 5.64 billion yuan (US$793 million), or 5,828 yuan per square metre.

The plot is the largest allocated for hotels and exhibition purposes in Zhuhai in recent years, following the establishment of the Greater Bay Area, said Vincent Cheung, managing director of Vincorn Consulting and Appraisal. The Greater Bay Area refers to a plan by Beijing to link the cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing into an integrated economic and business hub.

“If the parcel of land is sold, it will set a benchmark for the property market, as well as a benchmark for land [earmarked] for tourism in the Greater Bay Area as a whole. But this will depend on the level of response to the tender,” Cheung said.

He said the plot’s expensive pricing was mostly down to its proximity to other developments in the Greater Bay Area, and that the Zhuhai government was betting on an increase in the number of business travellers in the region.

“Zhuhai wants to become a leader in tourism in the Greater Bay Area,” he said. “Zhuhai was already in the business tourism industry long before Macau showed up. But the rise of Macau’s casinos has led to a decline in customers coming to Zhuhai. Now that Macau’s hotels are becoming more expensive, many tourists will want to choose Zhuhai instead,” Cheung said.