Land grant arrangement of Ma Wan Park (MWP) ensure timely delivery of Phase 2 development

Hong Kong, 31 March 2021 — The Government announced that it has executed a land grant at nominal premium to Ma Wan Park Limited (MWPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (SHK), for the development and operation of Ma Wan Park (MWP), which is a community project without commercial gain. To ensure timely delivery of MWP Phase 2 and good governance of the entire MWP, the Government has also entered into a Supplemental Agreement (SA) and a Management Agreement (MA) with SHK.

The Government and SHK signed in June 1997 a Heads of Agreement (HoA) that provides for the implementation of various developments on Ma Wan Island, including MWP.

Both parties have been in discussions and have now reached an agreement on the completion of MWP Phase 2 as well as the financial and management arrangements for MWP as a whole. It has been agreed that MWP Phase 2 will proceed according to the Master Layout Plan approved by the Town Planning Board in 2014, focusing on preservation, restoration and renovation of the old Ma Wan Village for adaptive re-use. Old Ma Wan village houses will be revitalised into an artist village, with art studios, workshops, retail, and food and beverage places. Historic relics, including the Tin Hau Temple, the Kowloon customs commemorative tablet and stone tablet, and the Mui Wai rock inscription, will be preserved. It has also been agreed that the construction of MWP Phase 2 shall be completed within three years from the date of land grant.

“The Government looks forward to the early implementation of MWP Phase 2, which would contribute to our local and non-local tourism,” said a spokesperson for the Development Bureau.

MWP, including both Phase 1 and Phase 2, is a community project without commercial gain. As set out in the HoA, the capital costs for developing MWP are subsidised by public funds capped at HKD1,031.48 million, which is an amount determined with reference to the sum set aside from the land premium payable by SHK in 1997 for the site on which Park Island was developed. Phase 1 of MWP is operated, and the entire MWP upon completion of Phase 2 shall be operated, by MWPL on a self-financing and commercially sustainable basis, and any net profit to be generated from the operation should be ploughed back into MWP.

“The execution of the land grant, the SA and the MA ensures the delivery of the entire MWP, including Phase 2, as a properly managed community facility, on the basis of details further developed from the broad framework agreed in mid-1997 under the HoA. The Lands Department and the Government-nominated directors will closely monitor the implementation progress of MWP Phase 2 and the operation of MWP as a whole taking into account public interest and public benefit,” the spokesperson said. — Construction+ Online