The Government forecasted today (March 8) that the open tender for disposal of a site for Multi-storey Buildings for Modern Industries (MSB) on Fuk Wang Street and Wang Lee Street, Yuen Long, New Territories (i.e. Yuen Long Town Lot No. 545) (the Yuen Long Lot) under the two-envelope approach would be launched on March 15, 2024. The tender invitation will close on June 28, 2024.
The Yuen Long Lot is located at Yuen Long INNOPARK, where three originally individual sites were merged into one with a view to enhancing the design flexibility and achieving economies of scale. The Yuen Long Lot has a site area of about 32 440 square metres and is designated for developing MSB(s) for logistics and/or vehicle servicing and maintenance purposes (excluding the portion to be handed over to the Government). The maximum gross floor area (GFA) that may be attained is 161 500 sq m, among which no less than 30 per cent GFA must be handed over to the Government for providing assistance to some brownfield operators who were affected by government development project and wished to relocate their operations.
The Yuen Long Lot is the first MSB site rolled out by the Government to achieve the dual policy objectives of promoting the development of industries, as well as consolidating brownfield operations displaced by government projects in a land-efficient manner and assisting them in upgrading their operations. The Lot, having the geographical advantage of being well connected to the airport, land boundary control points and other parts of Hong Kong, is favourable for further development of the logistics and/or vehicle servicing and maintenance industries. Moreover, certain floor space of the MSB(s) will be used for consolidating and accommodating some of the brownfield operations displaced by government projects.
A spokesperson for the Development Bureau said, "With a view to achieving the policy objective of consolidating brownfield operations in an orderly and efficient manner, we will require the developer to hand over no less than 30 per cent of the maximum GFA (i.e. no less than 48 450 sq m) to the Government. The Government or its appointed agent will manage the floor space and lease it to brownfield operators displaced by government projects. The Government will charge these brownfield operators a concessionary rental at a level comparable to the rental of brownfield sites in related industries for an initial period of five to 10 years, so as to provide a transitional period for them to adapt to the market rental level."
The spokesperson added, "To ensure that the tendering result can effectively contribute to achieving the dual policy objectives, as compared with the arrangement of accepting 'the highest premium offered', this tender will not only focus on the land premium. Under the two-envelope approach, tenderers have to submit respective envelopes containing the non-premium proposals and premium proposals, so that the Government can consider such non-premium factors as to how the MSB(s) concerned may drive development of industries and facilitate consolidation of displaced brownfield operations, in addition to premium offers, and award the site to the most suitable bidder."
This tendering arrangements have been drawn up with due regard to the Stores and Procurement Regulations (SPR). Key features of the tender assessment criteria include: