Tenders for residential sites in Sha Tin and Yuen Long attract 18 bids

Tenders yesterday for two residential sites, in Sha Tin and Yuen Long, attracted bids from some 18 companies.

Each tender received nine bids, a Lands Department spokesman said. The Sha Tin plot is in Kau To. The site in Yuen Long is in Tung Tau Industrial Area.

Far East Consortium International, which has seldom taken part in tenders, was one of the bidders for the Yuen Long site.

Anthony Chu, the firm's general manager for China property development, said: "We have submitted a bid for the Yuen Long site. It is a good time to buy development sites because the price of property has started to fall."

Charles Chan Chiu-kwok, managing director at Savills Valuation and Professional Services, said land prices would drop slightly due to the cooling measures introduced by the government and increased land supply.

"The increase in land supply will improve the problem of housing supply and demand, which is not in a balance," he said. "Developers are not as optimistic about the market's outlook as before. They have turned conservative."

Surveyors estimate the 354,136 square foot Kau To site will receive bids ranging from HK$2.68 billion to HK$3.01 billion, or HK$8,300 to HK$9,300 per sq ft.

Cheung Kong (Holdings), K Wah International, New World Development, Wheelock Properties, Sino Land, Wing Tai Properties, Sun Hung Kai Properties and a consortium of Paliburg Holdings and Regal Hotels International submitted bids. The winning bidder could develop luxury flats with a total gross floor area of 323,308 sq ft.

The tender for the Yuen Long site attracted bids from K Wah International, the Paliburg Holdings-and-Regal Hotels consortium, Far East, Cheung Kong (Holdings), Lai Sun Development, HKR International and Sun Hung Kai Properties.

Their offers were likely to have been affected by the fact the 46,317 sq ft site is beside industrial buildings and not close to Long Ping MTR station. The site was expected to have received bids ranging from HK$530 million to HK$695 million, or HK$2,300 to HK$3,000 per square foot.

It could accommodate a development with total gross floor area of 46,317 sq ft, or 430 flats.