No_1_June_1964 — Page 83

tenement floor category, the highest figure ever recorded. This type of accommodation provides for the mass of Hong Kong's population and with the traditional utilisation of virtually every square foot of such space as cubicles and bedspaces each unit provides at least a roof and shelter for many more families than any other type of accommodation.

The number of units built by Government-financed and special low- cost housing bodies, including co- operatives. and certain large em- ployers, also showed a considerable increase over the previous five years,

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The pattern of development has followed the trend of recent years with buildings going higher and higher. and developers looking to larger sites in order to obtain the greatest density of development in relation to road frontages. Single sites lost out to the larper areas al- lowing multiple developments, and corner sites were in even greater de- mand. The year also saw the begin- ning of more intensive development in many of the rural areas on the Is. land with much attention being de voted to Pok Fu Lam. Shouson Hill and Stanley, and the commencement of projects on new ground at Chung Hom Kok and Tai Tam. The Peak approaches also received much atten- tion and many transactions took place involving land in Stubbs Road and Conduit Road. There was apparent boom in the development of so-called luxury-type flats for sale and. while the selling of flats before buildings are completed. and in some cases even started, is a post-war fea- ture of development in Hong Kong. it was evident by the end of the year that purchasers in this category were not SO anxious to tie up $200.000 in a single flat without seeing what they were getting for their money. Since many purchasers also buy flat as

an investment the return expected in terms of rent must be high and by the end of the year it seemed doubtful if there were enough people around who could af ford such rents. In an

effort to boost what looked like a declining market. some developers advertised easy payment schemes spread over 10 years: but since many developers rely on the pre-sale of flats partly to finance building such terms usually require the immediate recoupment of about 25% of the purchase price,

some

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▲ Only a stone's throw from Nathan Road is Temple Street, which runs parallel. Here is the old Hong Kong. The sprawling temple in the left foreground is flanked by rows of foodstalls, open most of the night. Fresh snake soup is a specialty of the area.

the next 25% on completion and only the remaining 50% spread over the ten-year period. The sale of flats at figures below $100.000 remained steady with lower values in strong demand and there was evidence to suggest that over the last three to four years small and medium Western-style flats have about doubled in value.

"Land transactions continued unabated and further attention was being paid to hitherto unprospected areas. notably Wan Chai where the fruits of such transactions are al- ready beginning to show in the form of towering multi-storey blocks in the midst of hitherto almost uniform four storey district. The East Point area continued to grow with large buildings mainly compris ing small and medium flats, and similar development was in progress at North Point and in the area of Quarry Bay,

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The law of supply and demand. was again clearly demonstrated in the provision of office accommoda- tion. When, in 1960, rents of offices were dropping and the demand was slack. many developers temporarily lost interest in such buildings, par ticularly as land values were very high in relation to land for other purposes. Having turned their at tentions to ostensibly more profitable types of development there came the

THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1

realisation at the end of 1961 that office accommodation was getting scarce. The few offices completed during the year did little more than demolition. The result has been a provide space for those displaced by spiralling of office rents towards the end of the year with no real prospect of the demand being met during the coming year. Meanwhile, developers have again turned their attentions to the Town Centre and there are any number of schemes planned or in progress with skyscrapers passing the thirty-storey mark. Land values also rocketed after a short period of stagnation and by the end of the year prime sites were being quoted as worth figures in the region of $3.000 a square foot. The past year saw the demolition of further well known landmarks in the Central District and the commercial centre seems likely to push its way out on the western end, beyond the Central Market, well before the Town Centre development scheme gets under way to the eastern end.

"In the area generally known as Mid-levels, the demolition of stately mansions continued and, while many will regret the passing of some of these fine old houses, no one can deny that they have outlived their economic lives. Similar development continued on Conduit Road and Macdonell Road. Three years ago

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