The Development Bureau on Monday said it awarded a nearly 11-hectare project in the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area to HSK New Development Limited which comprises six shareholders: China Overseas Land and Investment, China Merchants Land, China Resources Land, China Travel Service, JD.com and a subsidiary of Sino Land.
Apart from flattening and developing three residential sites and building a smart logistics centre on an “Enterprise and Technology Park” site, the consortium will be tasked with forming various remaining sites in the pilot area, to be handed back to the government later.
Development Secretary Bernadette Linn said two of the “Enterprise and Technology Park” sites of 4.5 hectares will be granted to Hung Shui Kiu Industry Park Company upon formation, increasing the size of sites at a nominal land premium for 50 years from 23 hectares to 27.5 hectares, to allow firms to settle in early once the site formation is completed in 2028.
Lam said that the decision highlighted the government’s support for the park company and the emphasis on industrial development.
He added that the newly allocated sites will help the park company to establish a regional industrial ecosystem at Hung Shui Kiu and enhance its appeal to businesses and talents.
Meanwhile, Ryan Ip, vice president of the think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation, said the winning consortium has expertise in various fields, which will help expedite the development of the mega project.
“Each of the corporate has its own merit. You have a developer with long history of local operations, and then you also have large SOE [state-owned enterprise] developers who have strong experience on operating this kind of I&T enterprises on the mainland, and then you also have an established, large logistics operator,” said Ip, who’s also a member of the Advisory Committee on the Northern Metropolis.
“So I think it bring a lot of different experience to Hong Kong not only on residential development, but also on the operation of technology park, and also on the operations of high-end logistics facilities.”
JD.com – the anchor tenant at the centre – will start operations within 55 months, which Ip described as an “aggressive timeline” compared with the minimum requirement of 96 months in the tender documents.
“I think they have to work very hard to achieve that not only on a smooth construction schedule, but also they will have to leverage on their existing operation experience not only in Hong Kong, but also in mainland, and also other parts of the world on how you can smoothly operate a large-scale high-end logistic distribution centre,” he said.
Hannah Jeong, Executive Director, Head of Valuation & Advisory Services from CBRE Hong Kong, believes the tender will serve as a crucial test for future land disposals for the mega project.
“The result suggests that future pilot tenders could benefit from a longer lead time and potentially a rolling tender approach,” a statement read.
“Given the complexity of these developments and the need to combine technology operators, investors and residential developers, the market requires adequate time to establish the right partnerships and formulate viable business models.”
