HK Wan Chai Mega-Hotel Plan Rejected

[AliBabaIncorporated]

On one hand, I feel kinda sorry for them, cuz they're the guys doing the Zhuhai-Macau-Hong Kong bridge, which is a cool idea (even though it's gonna cause even more air pollution due to vehicle traffic, such as cheap mainland buses filled with sulfuric diesel fuel --- but it's all in areas like Tung Chung and Tsing Yi that I have no intention of living in and are entirely composed of indoor malls anyway, so no one has anything to worry about).

On the other hand, can I get a HELL YEAH? A complete rejection of Central district and the upper-middle class exurbs' attempt to colonize the whole of Hong Kong with their commercial architectural "style". This reaffirms the idea that urban renewal should be about beautifying old pedestrian neighbourhoods, NOT tearing them down and replacing them with these kinds of ridiculous high-class indoor commercial complexes. If that's what you wanna build, put them out in the exurbs where there's plenty of land and people actually want this kind of stuff.

Oh well, at least I was able to amuse myself watching their stock price drop by 4% already.

Also, a lot of people were in support of this project just with the idea it could "clean up" the Wan Chai district (which is famous for Filipino bar girls) ... but as has been seen before, all that would really happen is that the poor SE Asian bar girls would be replaced with more sophisticated-looking escort services staffed by mainland girls on tourist visas.

Finally ... let's hope they reject the Central-Wan Chai road bypass too, and expand MTR capacity instead. Hell, where's that Electronic Road Pricing scheme we've been hearing about for so long? Implement the cost recovery principle and charge all the owners of private cars for their use of roads, the most expensive kind of government-subsidized infrastructure!

Hopewell Fails to Get Approval for HK$4.5 Billion Hotel Project
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...KtU&refer=asia

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Hopewell Holdings Ltd., which invests in toll roads and real estate, failed to get approval for a HK$4.5 billion ($577 million) hotel project from the Hong Kong government, which cited the scale of the development and its impact on the neighborhood.

The hotel would be ``too massive and incompatible with the character of neighboring developments'' in the Wan Chai district, Hong Kong's town planning board said a faxed statement late yesterday.

This was the second time that the planning board rejected Hopewell's proposal for the 2,000-room hotel. Hopewell, controlled by property tycoon Gordon Wu, gave the board a revised plan last December after the original one was rejected in April.

The proposed hotel, which would cover 172,700 square meters if developed, would be part of a two-block development with shops, cinemas and conference rooms, according to Hopewell's Web site.

Hopewell will pursue its plan for the hotel, the South China Morning Post reported today, citing Wu.

Hopewell shares rose 2.2 percent to HK$20.50 in Hong Kong yesterday, and have gained 23 percent in the past six months.

[SunWuKong]

well, this is rare. interesting that they want to build such a big hotel in Wan Chai and not somewhere cheaper.

Originally Posted by AliBabaIncorporated

Also, a lot of people were in support of this project just with the idea it could "clean up" the Wan Chai district (which is famous for Filipino bar girls) ... but as has been seen before, all that would really happen is that the poor SE Asian bar girls would be replaced with more sophisticated-looking escort services staffed by mainland girls on tourist visas.

that's really just that one or two blocks in Wan Chai. there are probably more local and mainland hookers operating in their own small studio apartments - with "blessing" from the triad groups, of course.