Hong Kong’s last remaining commercial site located on its signature Victoria Harbor will finally be up for sale in the upcoming October-to-December quarter, the city’s development minister confirmed on Monday, after a lengthy delay driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Consisting of 1.61 million square feet (149,600 square meters) of commercial floor space, the A-grade five-hectare site is the only remaining slot located on the Central Harborfront, the city’s trade and financial hub facing Victoria Harbor whose rise can be traced back to the British colonial era.

The prime site is expected to fetch about HK$25,000 (US$3,226) per square foot, with the total investment costing up to HK$65 billion.

The sale was delayed by one quarter because of the city’s economic and political uncertainty in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, said Secretary for Development Michael Wong.

Interested developers were required to submit separate design and price proposals, he said.

Donald Choi, the chief executive of the city’s major developer Chinachem Group, said delaying the sale was the appropriate decision but there were still many uncertain factors in the market.

Thomas Lam, head of valuations and advisory at real estate consultancy Knight Frank Hong Kong, said due to overall land values being adjusted downward by 15% this year, he predicted the value of the harborfront site would be about 25% lower than its January estimate.

A luxury residential site on Victoria Peak is also included in the upcoming land-sale program after the government failed to sell it two years ago. After splitting it into two parcels, the site is expected to yield 240 residential units.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play