The Government announced today that the tender closing date of a site for multistorey buildings for modern industries (MSB) on Fuk Wang Street and Wang Lee Street in Yuen Long, ie Yuen Long Town Lot No. 545, will be extended from June 28 to December 27.

To achieve policy objectives, a two-envelope approach has been adopted for this tender, meaning that tenderers have to submit respective envelopes containing non-premium proposals with a weighting of 70%, as well as premium proposals with a weighting of 30%.

The Development Bureau pointed out that this approach reflects that the Government attaches great importance to the layout and quality of the MSBs to be built. Accordingly, potential tenderers must put more effort in formulating such proposals, rendering the drafting of the tender more complex and time-consuming.

Meanwhile, the community isolation facilities in Hung Shui Kiu will depart from the sites where they were situated, in order to release the spaces for MSB use. As both the Hung Shui Kiu sites and the Yuen Long lot can be designated for modern logistics use, there have been views in the market that the Government should better arrange the disposal timeline of the two sites, so that the industry and investors can concurrently consider the strategic development of both sites.

The bureau said the industry’s request for the tender period extension indicates that the industry places great importance on the development of high-quality MSBs in the Northern Metropolis. As such, the Government has acceded to the request, hoping that with concerted efforts from the Government and the industry, the Yuen Long and Hung Shui Kiu sites would be put to optimal use for realising the relevant policy objectives.

The extension of the tender closing date of the Yuen Long Lot to later this year is a decision made in response to the market’s call for room for considering these two sites in a comprehensive manner, the bureau stressed.

The Government invited the industry to submit expressions of interest for the sites in Yuen Long and Hung Shui Kiu last year. A total of 10 submissions were received from relevant stakeholders.

It is now expediting the preparatory work for putting the Hung Shui Kiu sites up for tender in September the earliest.