Hong Kong Baptist Church to buy former site of priced-out girls' school
After surging rent at a prime Mid-Levels location forced a secondary school to move out just a few months ago, the building's owner has found a buyer: nearby Hong Kong Baptist Church.
The church, at 50 Caine Road, plans to buy the eight-storey building at number 97, which it wants to turn into a family service centre, multifunctional hall and offices, with recreational space on the roof, according to the December issue of its newsletter.
While the purchase price has not been made public, the church said it needed HK$340 million to buy and renovate the building.
The deal came to light five months after St Margaret's Girls' College moved out in June, saying it could not afford to renew its lease at an estimated monthly rent of more than HK$400,000.
The Education Bureau allowed the direct subsidy school to use a vacant campus in Sha Tin for five years, on the condition that it stop enrolling new students. The school may have to close if it cannot secure a permanent campus.
In a donation form circulated to parishioners since last week, the church said it needed the HK$340 million by the end of July. The sum includes the acquisition price, stamp duty and renovation cost. It is unclear whether any purchase agreement has been signed yet.
"This is an internal policy of our church. We have no plan to announce anything about this transaction to the public," the Reverend Benjamin Yeung, minister of the church, told the .
In 2006, the church tried to buy a property at 110 Caine Road but failed to do so due to "insufficient support from parishioners", according to its website.
The school management could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Civic Party legislator Kenneth Chan Ka-lok, who has been helping the school liaise with the government, said it was hoping to bid for a campus on a new development site on Anderson Road, in Kwun Tong, but he was pessimistic in view of the administration's previous responses.
Yeung said the school's removal was unrelated to his church's purchase: "The school left before the owner decided to sell the building to us."
