Two bids made for Hung Shui Kiu pilot area

The government received two joint-venture bids by the time a tender for a major land parcel in Hung Shui Kiu closed at noon on Friday. The 11-hectare site is the first of three pilot areas in the Northern Metropolis to undergo a tender. The land comprises of roughly 2.6 hectares for residential sites and 5.5 hectares for industrial and technology facilities, with the rest to be dedicated to community amenities and pedestrian streets. The Development Bureau has set up an assessment panel to evaluate the bids following standard tendering procedures. Officials said they hope to award the contract by the end of August. In a statement, a spokesperson said the bureau will evaluate the bids using a "two-envelope approach", where non-price factors account for 70 percent of the score and price factors make up 30 percent. The spokesperson added that various developers and industry players had formed the two bidding consortiums. The spokesperson said this shows that developing sizable land parcels can foster cross-industry collaboration, setting the foundation for diversified development in the Northern Metropolis. Edited by Thomas McAlinden