HONG KONG: Proposed hotel and office developments on the new Central Harbourfront will be reassigned to Wan Chai, to reduce the development intensity at two sites north of International Finance Centre II and improve the harbor view, the Development Bureau said yesterday.

The gross floor areas at the new Central Harbourfront will be reduced significantly, from about 92,000 square meters to only approximately 35,000, according to the bureau.

Featuring a low-rise iconic development, the newly-proposed plan for the two sites provides for a six-storey block and two two-storey blocks, for the purpose of exhibition, retail, dining and entertainment.

As a result of the revised design concepts, hotel and office developments that were originally designated for the two sites will be completely reassigned to the Site 5 reclamation land in Wan Chai. Gross floor areas for these commercial developments are estimated to total approximately 58,000 square meters, with the height of buildings to be limited to 80 meters.

The Red Cross Headquarters and Water Supplies Department's Harcourt Road Fresh Water Pumping Station currently occupying part of Site 5 are to be relocated, to make room for the development of Grade A offices in this area.

Ophelia Wong, deputy director (District) of Planning Department, said that, except for Wan Chai, the government has no other reclamation plan for Hong Kong Island at this moment.

The government said the revised harborfront plan caters to public resistance to more commercial developments on the two sites north of International Finance Centre II.

"It is not because the government is expecting a higher reward that the plan changed, but because of the demands and aspirations of people in Hong Kong," said Gracie Foo, deputy secretary (Planning & Lands) of the Development Bureau.

The bureau conducted a three-month public consultation on the design for the New Central Harbourfront from April to July 2008, with public views having been widely canvassed, according to the bureau.

(HK Edition 11/04/2009 page1)