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Mega Tower height cut by 38 floors
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Nov 20th, 2008 |
The Mega Tower - Hopewell Holdings' proposed
93-storey hotel skyscraper in Wan Chai - is
no more. The developer yesterday announced a
revised plan, cutting its height by 38
floors.
Fourteen controversy-filled years after the
project was first approved, it has shrunk to
55 floors, bringing it below the Hong Kong
Island ridge line and making it shorter than
the nearby Hopewell Centre, which, at 60
floors, was once Hong Kong's tallest
building.
Announcing the changes yesterday, Hopewell
managing director Thomas Jefferson Wu said
he hoped they would speed up the project,
which the company is now calling Hopewell
Centre II.
The government is seeking legal advice on
whether the scaled-down project needs fresh
approval from the Town Planning Board.
"We have never seen a developer initiating
such a large-scale reduction in an approved
plan," said Secretary for Development Carrie
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. She said that
regulations only require scaled-up projects
to secure a second approval from the board.
The first plan was approved in 1994.
Wan Chai District Council will be consulted
in January.
Despite the reduction, the 1,024-room hotel
is expected to be the biggest on Hong Kong
Island and will be the city's first
conference hotel. Mr. Wu said it would be
able to cater for conferences with 1,000
participants.
A spokesman for Hilton Hotels said the group
had signed an exclusive agreement with
Hopewell to explore the possibility of
co-developing the hotel.
Mr. Wu promised to preserve as far as
possible the green areas at the site between
Kennedy Road and Queen's Road East and to
revitalize the neighboring grade-one listed
historic mansion Nam Koo Terrace.
Two public spaces totaling 5,880 square
meters will be provided, one within the site
managed by Hopewell according to government
guidelines and an adjacent one managed by
the government. The plan also includes
road-improvement works such as widening
Queen's Road East, which Mr. Wu said would
alleviate traffic congestion. They are
subject to approval by the Transport
Department.
Source: South
China Morning Post |
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