We excluded certain items.
Rates: we have explained the position with the Council - we simply cannot predict if rates will be payable. Therefore we have excluded this item from the running cost estimate.
We excluded long-term maintenance, lift and escalator replacement, repair of external fabric and compound security because we don't have any idea what these might be in the future. In practical terms the first three should not attract any expenditure by OED for at least 15 years.
However the external fabric is relatively complicated with possibly some 40-50 permutations of material-to-material junctions compared to less than 10 on a conventional Hong Kong curtain-wall building. Render, sealants and gaskets will be particularly vulnerable and most of those have a limited design life. You can see why the Council is unenthusiastic about accepting future liability for these
items.
Swire Properties calculations for Pacific Place 1 and 2 are useful as guides to expenditure but the proposed CG building has many different features. PP1 and PP2 are rectangular, high-rise offices with central cores, clad in simple curtain-wall. The nett: gross ratio is very economical reflecting the commercial nature of the design - whereas the CG building has many public spaces with a nett: gross ratio to match.
We are of course not experts in estate management but we have operated in Hong Kong for many years and believe that our estimates are realistic. We suggested earlier that you might commission a study based on the current detail design data to give a much more accurate profile of future costs on the building. However, one would expect any consultants commissioned on a building project of such size to provide this sort of information as part of their professional service in any case.
Please get in touch if you require any further information
you
&
Romesh Gunesekera
Assistant Regional Director East Asia & Pacific
cc: Mrs Barnes Jones, HKD FCO
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