The administration and developers are accelerating their efforts to meet rising demand for new homes, with significant changes taking place in industrial areas such as in Sha Tin, Sheung Shui and Fo Tan.
The Planning Department has submitted an application to the Town Planning Board to transform two industrial sites in Siu Lek Yuen, Sha Tin, and Sheung Shui, into residential and business zones.
CK Asset (1113) applied to convert another industrial site near Sha Tin Racecourse into a residential complex with 4,700 units.
The developer said the whole project would be divided into three stages and a pioneering attempt to phase out industrial buildings.
The plan includes 24 residential blocks with 28 to 38 floors, including shops and parking spaces.
About 4,700 residential units will be provided with an average area of 608 square feet.
A primary school will also be built to meet the future educational needs of the residents.
The entire site covers an area of 572,245 sq ft and the total residential floor area is about 2,863,200 square feet.
CK Asset-owned Watson House, which is believed to be phase one of the project, will be turned into a 34-story commercial residential complex with a site area of 359,000 sq ft. It plans to provide more than 300 housing units, accounting for 6 percent of the whole construction.
Vincent Cheung Kiu-cho, managing director of Vincorn Consulting and Appraisal, said the project would be able to accommodate people who will work in the envisioned Northern Metropolis.
The Northern Metropolis is set to become an international technological hub, as promised by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in her policy address this year. Upon completion, it would house about 2.5 million people and employ 650,000 people, including 150,000 in the IT sector.
Cheung also said that transformations of the sites in Sheung Shui and Siu Lek Yuen will provide adequate commercial space for the innovation and technology sectors. More than 16 industrial buildings will be involved on an 11.7-hectare property.
The rezoning of the Siu Lek Yuen industrial area is the most prominent. The site is near City One, a well-developed residential district.
To avoid industrial and residential interface problems during the reconstruction phase, the department said that no new industrial development will be permitted.
Suggestions also include the rezoning of areas four and 30 in Sheung Shui, comprising nine industrial buildings, with a site area of 4.23 hectares. Two plots are now under short-term tenancy as public parking lots.
Documents show that industrial zones have shrunk dramatically in recent years. In 2020, 219 hectares were slated for industrial use, a 60 percent decrease from 2000.
Ryan Ip Man-ki, head of land and housing research at think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation, said the rezoning will bring more high-value-added commercial activity to the districts and provide more job prospects.
CK Asset is asking the government for approval to convert the use of land in the east Fo Tan industrial area into residential usage.
