Sales of homes at Lohas Park provided much of the MTR’s property revenue last year
Hong Kong transit operator MTR Corporation this week unveiled plans to launch sales of about 5,700 homes in the city this year, despite residential transactions having touched a six-year low in the first quarter of 2022.
“We aim to launch pre-sales for Lohas Park Package 11, The Southside Package 4, Ho Man Tin Station Package 2 and Kam Sheung Road Station Package 1 (as the agent of West Rail Property Development Limited) in 2022,” said a MTR Corporation representative who spoke with Mingtiandi.
The rail operator is also planning to offer four projects up for tender in the next 12 months, including a parcel atop the Tung Chung Traction substation which had failed to find a buyer in November last year when the MTR rejected all five bids submitted as having failed to reach the auction reserve.
The projects to be tendered, which could provide as many as 5,100 flats upon completion, would account for about a quarter of the 17,940 housing units to be developed via the city’s 2022-23 Land Sale Programme, according to an announcement last month by the Hong Kong Development Bureau.
Preparing for Launch
“For the upcoming pre-sale activities, a number of factors, including developers’ sales plan, project progress and (most importantly) the readiness of the pre-sale consent, should be taken into consideration,” David Tang, property and international business director at MTR Corporation said in press event on 15 March.
MTR boss David Tang
Flats at the four projects to be offered on sale, located in the New Territories, Southern District, and Kowloon East, are expected to be completed within the next three years.
Aside from the Tung Chung Traction substation project, the three other plots to be offered to developers include the first phases of both the Tung Chung East Station and the Siu Ho Wan Depot Topside Property Development on Lantau Island. The other plot, known as the Pak Shing Kok Ventilation Building property development, is a residential project in Tseung Kwan O that is expected to offer as many as 550 flats upon completion.
The Siu Ho Wan Depot project, which the MTR has dubbed Oyster Bay, will be developed in four primary phases which will be further broken down into sub-phases, similar to the MTR’s Lohas Park development, reported local media. Located less than a 10-kilometre (6-mile) drive from the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the first phase of the project is expected to provide about 1,500 units upon completion, according to Tang.
Earlier this month, the transit operator also began inviting developers and consortia to submit expressions of interest for the Pak Shing Kok Ventilation Building property development, with the invitation having closed on Monday last week.
North to the Metropolis
This year’s crop of new MTR homes come from 15 residential complexes the transit operator is developing across Hong Kong, including the 6 phases of its Wong Chuk Hang project, according to the operator’s audited results for 2021. These projects should provide “approximately 20,000 units in total, supplying much-needed quality housing to the market,” said MTR.
Plans for the MTR’s pre-sales and tenders were revealed after the firm achieved HK$9.27 billion ($1.18 billion) in profit from property development in Hong Kong during 2021, which represented a 70 percent increase from a year earlier, largely due to sales of homes at phases 7, 8 and 9 of its Lohas Park project.
Beyond the ongoing residential developments, the MTR is also looking to further grow its pipeline in the New Territories.
“Elsewhere, we are exploring sites along our existing and future railway lines, including the Tuen Mun South Extension, Kwu Tung Station and the Northern Link, and Hung Shui Kiu Station,” said Tang.
“We are also exploring development opportunities related to the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy and the new (Science Park and Pak Shek Kok Station) projects as announced in the Chief Executive’s 2021 Policy Address.”
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