Industrial building activation restarts

The Government will reactivate the industrial building to launch three measures to encourage owners to activate or rebuild by relaxing the maximum plot ratio of up to 20%, developing transitional housing and exempting land lease fees. The interest of the industry consortium to absorb the reconstruction of industrial buildings will increase greatly.

Over 15 years of the entire industrial building can be modified according to the plan

The policy report announces three industrial building revitalisation measures, including 1) the entire industrial building with a building age of more than 15 years can be refitted and modified according to the planned use, exempting the land premium and the land lease waiver fee, but 10% of the floor space must be used for arts and culture, etc. Designated use; 2) Industrial buildings in non-residential areas may apply to the Town Planning Board to relax the upper limit of the non-domestic plot ratio by 20%, and increase the floor space to be replenished; 3) the whole building can be converted into a transitional house after being converted. It is expected to be a five-year period and it is not necessary to apply to the Town Planning Board. Details of the measures will be implemented from the end of this year.

Have the potential to modify or rebuild the entire building.

According to government sources, there are currently 1,400 industrial buildings in Hong Kong. It is estimated that there are about 280 industrial buildings with the potential to be converted or rebuilt in a single ownership.

For the decentralized ownership of some industrial buildings, the units used in the arts, culture and creative industries may not be required to apply for a land lease waiver from the Administration for an initial period of five years and, subject to public safety, allow for the conversion of low-rise floors of industrial buildings. Non-industrial use to improve the development flexibility of the property.

As one of the new measures will increase the redevelopment of the building, it is expected to increase the interest of the consortium in absorbing the redevelopment of the industrial building. In the future, the whole building will be more active.

The chairman of the Shengyu Group, Deng Yaosheng, said that regardless of the activation of transitional housing or the relaxation of the plot ratio, it would help to release the floor, and the urban industrial buildings will be more flexible. He pointed out that the group currently has 8 industrial buildings, involving 1.5 million square feet, which can be used for modification.

Deng said that the group had previously modified a number of industrial buildings as hotels, and the cost of renovating the home was about 2,000 yuan. In addition, the hotel involved in the issue of licensing and the difficulty of renovating the home was low, so it expressed interest. However, he is concerned about policy continuity. He mentioned that the two buildings in the Kwai Chung District Industrial Building are more suitable for residential use because of the good transportation facilities.

New measures to support social transformation

The newly established fund, Linfeng Capital, has also recently absorbed the construction sites of Kwun Tong and San Po Kong Industrial Estates. The deployment of the site has been expanded. For the relaxation of the plot ratio, Hong Yingwei believes that the new policy is beneficial to the reconstruction and the building blocks have not been exhausted. Most suitable for reconstruction, will continue to look for industrial buildings in the market.

Wei Shenyi, Director of the First Group, said that the new measures are expected to encourage owners to renovate and rebuild, but depending on the location of the project and the development potential, such as rezoning transitional housing or increasing the plot ratio, I believe the details will be more complicated, and the application process and structural design should be evaluated. The activation of the Kowloon Bay Headquarters will depend on sufficient incentives for consideration.

On the other hand, Chen Jinping, head of the research department of CB Richard Ellis in Hong Kong, South China and Taiwan, said that the government’s reactivation of the industrial building revitalization plan would increase the floor to cope with social changes and economic needs. However, the Government has not seen an increase in the supply of industrial land. Close industrial land resources are even more tense.