Seven bids for Ocean Park hotel site

The revised tender for a hotel at Ocean Park, which could be worth HK$3.2 billion, has attracted seven bids, in contrast to its debut two years ago when it was withdrawn for lack of interest.

Bidders for the 495-room Ocean Hotel include Lai Sun Development, chaired by Peter Lam Kin-ngok, who is also head of the Tourism Board, and Sino Land.

"We teamed up with a hotel operator to bid for the site," Lai Sun deputy chairman Chew Fook Aun said after the tender for the hotel, due to open in 2016, closed yesterday.

When withdrawing the tender in 2011, the park said the high land premium sought by the government had dampened developers' interest. In January, it reopened the tender on more favourable terms that included allowing bidders to set their own premium for the 17,044-square metre site, at the park's entrance.

Another change is that the successful bidder will pay a flat 1.75 per cent of gross receipts to the park each year. Previously the operators were expected to pay extra if they earned more.

Chew said he believed Ocean Park would draw more visitors once the MTR station connecting it and Admiralty opened in 2015. "As the hotel will not be far from the MTR station, it will make it more attractive," he said.