- Government should wait for market sentiments to improve before selling prime Central site that may not go to highest bidder, but one with ‘best designs’
Described as the "last strategic business site", a prime location in Central is being put on the market by the government at a time when economic sentiments are hitting rock bottom.
Moreover, top officials say it doesn't need to go to the highest bidder, but the one with the "best designs", whatever that means.
"Money is not our only consideration," Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun said. "(It) is the last site that is so strategically located and iconic. Its proper design and utilisation is very important to our future economic development."
In other words, whoever gets the site may not have to pay top dollar for what is perhaps the best commercial plot of land left on Hong Kong Island. Am I missing something? This doesn't sound like the government taking "a vote of confidence" in the local property market, as this newspaper has reported. It's the eventual buyer or buyers who will be getting a steep discount, so long as the design ticks all the right boxes.
Money not everything, as government takes rare approach to land sale
Analysts think the ailing business environment amid social unrest and the novel coronavirus crisis could lower developers' bids by 10 to 15 per cent. If their estimates are right, who wouldn't have confidence with such a large margin of safety?
The 4.76-hectare New Central Harbourfront Site 3 was created from land reclamation in Victoria Harbour almost a decade ago. It has been used for entertainment and sports events such as concerts and carnivals. The Hong Kong E-Prix and the Wine & Dine Festival were held there.
For sure, it has been underutilised. But if the government has waited more than nine years, why sell now when market sentiments are so bad?
At least if it's just sold to buyers with the highest bid, it's objective. Now, proposed designs may be a deciding factor. It seems the Harbourfront Commission will be consulted once the government has finalised the tender requirement.
Well, the commission may be billed as an "oversight, advisory body", but key government departments with mandates tied to commercial development, land sales and the harbour are well represented in its membership. After all, Wong himself is the vice-chairman.
If the government has waited so long, surely it can wait a bit longer for market sentiments to improve. This mother of all prime sites will never lack buyers. We need to make sure it's not sold for a song.
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