CK Asset’s Victor Li says government has to ‘make the numbers work’ for US$74 billion Lantau artificial islands development
- The Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands project is planned to become Hong Kong’s third-biggest core business district
- Financial Secretary Paul Chan has said the government will push ahead with moves to increase land supply as high housing prices remain an issue
Asked by shareholders at the annual general meeting about his views on the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands project, Li, the elder son of Hong Kong’s wealthiest tycoon Li Ka-shing, said “most importantly, the government needs to make the numbers work”.
In his blog on Sunday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the government would pursue projects to increase the land supply in Hong Kong, as high housing prices owing to land shortages pose a serious problem for the city’s residents.
On the other hand, Chan acknowledged that public opinion was mixed about the reclamation work at Kau Yi Chau, with only 60 per cent of the 8,000 opinion letters collected during the project’s public consultation expressing support. Those respondents that expressed concerns cited the adverse impact on the environment and public finances.
It is envisioned that the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands project will become Hong Kong’s third-biggest core business district, with the first stage of the reclamation work planned to commence in 2025. The project aims to create three artificial islands spanning 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) and has an estimated cost of HK$580 billion. The development is expected to provide about 200,000 residential units.
“Many people have expressed their views on the matter. I don’t want to say too much,” Li said on Thursday. “It is hoped that, just as the government expects, property and land prices will rise to the cost levels that the government is currently estimating for the project.”
However, several analysts have said that a recovery in Hong Kong’s battered property market in the first three months of the year is already over, noting that sales are declining and sellers are cutting prices to complete deals.
Since the last week of March, property sales in the city have slowed with fewer than 80 transactions per week, and in one case only 35 sales were completed, data from Midland Realty showed.
