Tung Chung site receives five bids

MTR Corporation (0066) has received five bids for a large residential site in Tung Chung, which is estimated to be worth HK$5.5 billion, after rejecting five bids last year.

The tenderers included Nan Fung Group, Sino Land (0083) and Henderson Land Development (0012).

The highest valuations for the site reached HK$5.5 billion, or HK$5,900 per sq ft. But it is still lower than last year's maximum valuation of HK$7.52 billion, with about HK$8,000 per square foot.

The project is a residential development to be built atop the Tung Chung Traction Substation and its associated railway facilities with a maximum residential gross floor area of 87,288 square meters. It may provide 1,400 to 1,800 residential units.

The MTRC slashed the land premium by over 25 percent to HK$3.5 billion and scrapped the minimum profit sharing percentage of 15 percent this year after rejecting five tenders last November.

It is said that the land premium has been cut from HK$4.77 billion or HK$5,072 per square foot to HK$3.55 billion or HK$3,776 per sq ft - similar to that for the MTRC's Pak Shing Kok Ventilation Building property development in Tseung Kwan O tendered earlier this year.

Developers are also said to be allowed to propose the proportion of home sales shared with the corporation.

In the primary market, Henderson said it will today release the first price list of One Innovale Archway, phase one of its new project at Ma Sik Road in Fanling.

The first price list is expected to offer 121 units, which will mainly include studios, one-bedroom units, and one-bedroom with storage units, the developer said.