Lawmaker confident west Kowloon residential project will attract bids by first half of 2027
Hong Kong lawmaker says west Kowloon Cultural District Authority's first residential project in the 2B district is highly attractive and likely to be successfully tendered by the first half of 2027, despite the authority's operating deficit widening nearly 30 per cent to HK$998 million last fiscal y
A Hong Kong lawmaker has expressed confidence that the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority's (WKCDA) first residential development project in the 2B district will be successfully tendered by the first half of 2027, despite the authority's operating deficit widening nearly 30 per cent to HK$998 million in the last fiscal year.
Legislative Council election sector lawmaker Lam Siu-luk said the deficit was within expectations, but noted that the WKCDA's overall cost recovery rate had risen and corporate sponsorship income had grown, calling the results encouraging and saying they gave him greater confidence in the district's prospects.
Lam said the current residential and hotel commercial property market was stable, and believed the 2B district's first residential project would be highly attractive and could be successfully tendered by the first half of next year. He expressed hope that as the district's various facilities were further completed, the WKCDA's revenue from cultural and creative sectors could improve.
Baptist University associate professor of accountancy, economics and finance Mak Choi-chun said that globally, requiring cultural projects to break even or make a profit was very difficult. He said the WKCDA's overall cost recovery rate of 40 per cent was already at an upper-middle level.
Mak noted that Hong Kong property prices had been on an upward trend for some time, and that the West Kowloon Cultural District was a prime location. He said the project would likely be developed into luxury housing with very good tender value, and believed the WKCDA could generate substantial income, part of which could be invested to help cover some operating expenses in future.
