SHKP tweaks project design again as Hong Kong’s housing flatline shows no pickup in sight

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SHKP’s Tuen Mun project is undergoing ‘design changes [with] adjustments in the progress and work processes on site’, according to a statement

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The construction site of 496 So Kwun Wat road in Tuen Mun, jointly developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) and Hanison Construction Holdings. Photo: Google Map

Salina Li

Published: 6:40pm, 29 Jul 2024Updated: 6:56pm, 29 Jul 2024

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) said it would tweak the design of its housing project in Hong Kong’s Tuen Mun district for the second time, as it buys time before adding to the city’s inventory of unsold homes amid a worsening property slump.

The project, developed with Hanison Construction Holdings, is undergoing “design changes [with] adjustments in the progress and work processes on site, [where] the temporary suspension of some of the works may not be ruled out”, according to a statement.

The move by Hong Kong’s most-valuable developer could herald more delays, as the discount war among competing builders gathers momentum amid deteriorating sales. SHKP, an industry bellwether in the market, said a redesign would require it to resubmit its paperwork to the government for approval before construction can begin anew.

This is the second time since 2018 that SHKP has sought to redesign the Tuen Mun project, comprising seven towers of between 11 and 20 floors at the junction of So Kwun Wat and Kwun Tsui roads. The previous tweak boosted the total number of flats sixfold to 1,326 by cutting the average unit size by 64 per cent, according to the Post’s report six years ago, citing a government document.

The Avignon housing project in Tuen Mun, jointly developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties and Hanison Construction Holdings, in January 2014. Photo: Handout

The developer said it did not dismiss any staff due to the adjustment of the project, and that the affected workers would be reassigned to other projects.

“The main reason [for the project’s possible delay] could be the poor market conditions for the primary land sales in the New Territories,” said Alex Leung, senior director at CHFT Advisory and Appraisal.