Kennedy Road residents condemn amended Hopewell hotel project
Campaigners fear traffic will worsen on Kennedy Road, and claim the amended Hopewell development is a far cry from a previous agreement
Kennedy Road residents have lashed out at a developer for submitting an amended town planning application for a hotel project that they say "reneges on their agreement".
At stake is the Hopewell Centre II project on Queens Road East, which developer Hopewell Holdings says will be a conference hotel with more than 1,000 guest rooms, a retail podium and several large-scale "hotel-related convention facilities".
Residents say the "sneaky" application submitted in June was a far cry from what was originally agreed with the government in 2008.
That deal, which involved a land swap, required Hopewell to scrap a massive slab-like building design in favour of a Y-shaped one and to scale down some of the facilities.
But the latest application reintroduces the slab-like design, which the residents claim will worsen air quality in the area and present a barrier to air flow.
A plan to include a 1,500-seat "convention theatre" has also angered residents who fear it will worsen traffic congestion on Kennedy Road - a mid-density residential neighbourhood - and on Queens Road East near Ruttonjee Hospital.
Hopewell said the new proposal only involved "minor refinements and enhancements", while the tens of thousands of square feet in convention space was referred to as "hotel-related convention facilities".
