Hong Kong proposes more homes, less office space at Hung Hom harbourfront

Hong Kong authorities have proposed raising the residential share of a Hung Hom harbourfront development to more than 60 per cent by cutting commercial floor space, citing “strong doubts” over market demand for offices.

The Development Bureau, which submitted the latest proposal to the Legislative Council’s development panel on Monday, also suggested reallocating residential space from initially planned seaside sites to inland plots near Hung Hom station and Polytechnic University. The move aims to provide private and student housing alongside two mixed-use buildings.

“During public consultation, there were views that the [inland zone] would be well suited to become residential units, hotels or student hostels, given its proximity to the Hung Hom station and geographical closeness to Polytechnic University,” the document read.

“Upon further review, we would like to propose reallocating the domestic gross floor area from the [seaside zone] to [the inland zone] and amending the main use of the two building blocks in the [inland zone] to allow a combination of residential, commercial and hotel or hostel uses, as a mixed-use development atop the public transport interchange.”

The two blocks were originally earmarked for hotel or office towers, integrated with the public transport interchange and retail facilities.

The latest plan came 18 months after the bureau floated the preliminary proposal in April last year, followed by a two-month public consultation that ended in July.

Under the proposal, the development’s gross floor area will reach about 206,500 square metres (2.2 million square feet), a 3 per cent increase over the previous estimate.

Commercial use, including retail, hotels and hostels, will account for one-third of the area, while 62 per cent will be residential and the remaining 5 per cent will be for the marina.

Under the original proposal, 57 per cent of the space was assigned to commercial use, 40 per cent to residential, and 3 per cent to the marina. The bureau attributed the shift to market scepticism over whether the area required such a large volume of office space.

The bureau also expanded its building plan from a single iconic seaside building to two connected tall towers, creating a high-level open space with “much stronger appeal” architecturally and aesthetically.

“Such a physical connection will serve as an uncovered leisure or event space providing a spectacular, breathtaking view of Victoria Harbour with the skyline as the backdrop, as well as a viewing platform that would allow for location-specific and highly identifiable photo opportunities and a memorable experience for visitors,” the document stated.

To ensure the vision is realised, the bureau will require the winning developer of the seaside zone to submit its proposed layout plan to the Town Planning Board for scrutiny.

The seaside sites initially earmarked for four residential buildings would be developed into public open space to provide access to a proposed marina with 200 berths.

“This is a very positive response to the comments received during the consultation period that the originally proposed residential towers were relatively excessive at the edge of this prime harbourfront location,” the document read.

The proposed marina, which would feature a retail deck and landing facilities, would require reclaiming 0.3 hectares of the harbour to construct a breakwater and mooring area.

The bureau said it would also study the feasibility of earmarking more waters off Hung Hom for water sports and competitions.

It further proposed enhancing the facade and piazza of the Hong Kong Coliseum, a premier concert venue, to better integrate it with the surrounding development.

The project would also widen two existing footbridges, among other measures, to improve pedestrian connectivity and consolidate transport facilities in the area.

The bureau noted that internal government discussions on the project’s implementation model were ongoing, but stressed it remained committed to rolling out the land in 2029.