The government released a waterfront hotel site in the former North Point Estate for tender yesterday amid expectations that it will attract keen interest from developers.
"Hotel developments have a longer payback period, but the site is one of the few waterfront locations on Hong Kong Island available for sale. Many developers would be interested in bidding," surveyor Albert So Chun-hin said, estimating the site would fetch bids of between HK$4.65 billion and HK$5.81 billion, translating to HK$12,000 to HK$15,000 per square foot.
But Knight Frank head of valuation and professional services Alnwick Chan Chi-hing made a much lower forecast. Given that returns available from hotel developments are lower than those yielded by residential developments, Chan estimated the site - which must be used for a hotel project - was worth considerably less, at HK$1.86 billion or HK$4,800 per square foot.
The 57,792 square foot site could yield a total gross floor area of 387,504 sq ft.
Under restrictions imposed by the Lands Department, the project built on the site may not be higher than 80 metres above the Hong Kong Principal Datum, which is 1.23 metres below the mean sea level.
