Hong Kong Covid-19 isolation centre at prime Kai Tak development area ‘to be used for temporary public housing’

A Covid-19 isolation centre in Hong Kong’s prime Kai Tak development area could be turned into transitional housing for low-income residents when the pandemic eases, the Post has learned. Concern groups for housing welcomed the idea, saying it could provide quick relief given the city’s severe shortage of public housing. But developers and tourism sector players said they believed the temporary housing should not remain too long, or it could affect tourism and plans to transform the former airport site into a hub for homes, business, sports and leisure. With Covid-19 infections continuing a downward trend, isolation facilities have been left with many empty beds. Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun said in a blog post on April 24 that some isolation sites could be used as transitional housing for those in the long queue for public flats, but he did not give details. A source familiar with the matter said the Kai Tak facility, still being built to provide 3,000 rooms next month, appeared the most feasible for use as temporary housing among nine isolation sites. “The rooms are all equipped with a toilet and can be reused right away without much conversion,” he said. The prefabricated units are stacked into blocks of four storeys each, served by lifts. The eight-hectare sea-view site, next to the city’s cruise terminal and originally meant for commercial use, was pulled from the land sale programme earlier this year. It was estimated to be worth HK$12.5 billion to HK$20 billion in 2020. What is the minimum size rule for Hong Kong flats and will it affect home prices? Three other Kai Tak commercial sites were not sold between 2019 and 2020 because no bids met the reserve price. “Considering past failures in land sale, the government may think this site can be put on hold and use it for transitional housing for a few years,” the source said, adding that the earliest it could be released was likely to be after winter. After Hong Kong was hit by a massive fifth wave of Covid-19 infections early this year, authorities commissioned a mainland China construction company to build community isolation facilities at the nine sites, with support from the central government. The other eight are in the New Territories, with five on government land and the rest on sites owned by private developers. With the fifth wave waning, the Post learned that six sites would be closed as early as May 12. Anthony Chiu Kwok-wai, executive director of the Federation of Public Housing Estates, who visited the Kai Tak site with government officials on Thursday, thought it was suitable for transitional housing. It could provide up to 3,000 flats for one or two occupants or the units could be merged for bigger families. Public transport was available nearby, but the area needed supermarkets and grocery stores, he said. Although turning the facility into temporary homes was no solution to the massive housing crunch, he said: “It provides a choice as the living environment is quite good, much better than that of subdivided units.” Stewart Leung Chi-kin, chairman of the executive committee of the Real Estate Developers Association, said he had not heard of the plan for the Kai Tak site. “If it is used for housing temporarily, say for one or two years, it’s fine,” he said. “But Kai Tak has undergone years of careful urban planning to be a hub of mixed land uses, the government should not give up commercial development on the runway.” He noted that some private residential projects there would be ready for residents to move in over the next three or four years. Tourism sector lawmaker Yiu Pak-leung said the industry had reservations about having transitional housing next to the cruise terminal, when the government had committed to developing Hong Kong into a leading international cruise hub in Asia. “In the end, Kai Tak is intended for tourism development. When cruise services are resumed, we need to consider tourists’ impressions,” he said, adding that the government could consider other sites suitable for longer-term use as transitional housing. Some of the other eight sites being used for isolation facilities were earmarked earlier for other uses. For example, the one at the new town project of Hung Shui Kiu was meant for a multistorey building for relocated industrial operators affected by land clearance. Sun Hung Kai Properties announced on Friday that another site, at Tam Mi in Yuen Long, would be used for a large new private housing project with 9,940 flats. A massive 9,940-flat mass housing project takes shape in Tam Mei A second isolation site in Yuen Long, at San Tin, is meant to become an IT hub in the government’s blueprint for the Northern Metropolis near the border with the mainland. Asked if it would continue to lend the land for transitional housing, Henderson Land Development, which co-owns the plot, would only say that it was in close contact with the government. The Transport and Housing Bureau said that where necessary, it would provide help to the relevant bureaus or departments to review the viability of converting isolation facilities into transitional housing.