Authorities raise price tag for artificial islands off Hong Kong’s Lantau to HK$580 billion
- Development Bureau unveils new details of Lantau Tomorrow Vision including downgraded forecast for land revenue
- The three islands, set to house 550,000 people and a new business district, will be arranged around Y-shaped channel and served by new rail link
The estimated cost of building three artificial islands to house more than half a million people in space-starved Hong Kong has jumped by 16 per cent to HK$580 billion (US$75 billion), while the projected revenue from selling the land has fallen by nearly a fifth, the government has revealed.
Despite the worsening financial picture, the Development Bureau on Tuesday said it would go ahead with the Lantau Tomorrow Vision and create 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres) of artificial land to the west of Hong Kong Island, arguing the costs involved were likely to change before the first stage of the project was completed in 2033.
“This is a medium to long-term development project,” the bureau’s spokesman said. “We are not worried about short-term market fluctuations.”
When the project cost was unveiled by the previous administration in 2019, it carried an initial price tag of HK$500 billion and was expected to generate HK$925 billion in land sale revenue for the development of 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres).
But according to the bureau’s latest estimates, the cost will be at least HK$580 billion, while just HK$750 billion is expected from auctioning off sites to developers.
But the spokesman noted that once the entire project was completed, decades from now, the three islands would be home to economic activity amounting to HK$200 billion annually. The government would also consider a variety of options to raise funds, such as issuing bonds, he said.