Repulse Bay site tipped to become city's most costly

HONG KONG (April 26): A luxury residential site open for tender at Repulse Bay could set a new record as the city's most expensive piece of land, predicts Midland Surveyors director Alvin Lam Tsz-pun.

The 46,715 sq ft government site, near 110 Repulse Bay Road, is likely to attract keen bidding interest from developers, says Lam, who has forecast that when the tender closes on Friday it could be knocked down to a winning bid of HK$1.89 billion (RM774.79 million), or about HK$45,000 per sq ft.

That would make it the city's most expensive plot since a site on Mount Kellett Road on The Peak sold to Sun Hung Kai Properties in 2006 for HK$1.8 billion, a then world record of HK$42,192 per buildable sq ft.

Lam's HK$45,000 forecast was the highest of five by surveyors polled by the South China Morning Post. Three others forecast HK$40,000 per sq ft, while A G Wilkinson & Associates valuation director Ringo Lam Chun-chiu forecast HK$32,395.

"I expect it to fetch a high price because it is in Repulse Bay which is a luxury residential area, and it has a nice view," Centaline Surveyors director James Cheung King-tat said.

If the site goes at his estimate it will be the city's second most pricey piece of land — below the price paid for the Mount Kellett Road site but above the HK$38,488 per sq ft price for a site bought by the Ultra Well Group on South Bay Road late last year.

With a maximum gross floor area of about 42,000 sq ft and a building restriction of no more than four storeys, surveyors expect the Repulse Bay site to attract bids ranging from HK$1.362 billion to HK$1.89 billion.

"Compared to the South Bay site, the Repulse Bay site is more marketable because the location is more well-known to mainlanders and overseas investors," said Vincent Cheung Kiu-cho, national director of valuation advisory services at property broker Cushman & Wakefield.

"A lump sum of below HK$3 billion is also small enough to woo a lot of developers, and we expect it to draw eight bids or more since there is a scarcity of luxury property sites in the city," he said.

Alnwick Chan Chi-hing, executive director at Knight Frank, expects the winning developer to build four to eight houses, as the site coverage of buildings must not exceed 22.5% of the site area. Although the site was not in the most desirable area of Repulse Bay and had a slope formation that made it less attractive, Chan expected the developer to build houses that would carry price tags of HK$60,000 to HK$70,000 per sq ft.

Also closing on Friday is a tender for another residential site on Kwun Fat Street in Siu Lam, Tuen Mun, expected to fetch HK$117 million to HK$194 million, or between HK$3,000 and HK$5,000 per sq ft.

The site offers a maximum gross floor area of nearly 39,000 sq ft.

Chan said the site could be used for a low-density development but it was close to busy Tuen Mun Road and was too far away from the sea for a good view. He expected it to attract no more than five bids and sell for around HK$3,000 per sq ft, while homes to be built there will be priced at up to HK$8,000 per sq ft.

Lam of Midland Surveyors said the site could be used to develop three-storey houses, and since there was limited supply of low-density houses in the district, he forecast it could be sold for HK$5,000 per sq ft. — SCMP