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Howard Winn

New amendments to Peak boutique hotel
We see that the developers of the proposed controversial 'boutique hotel' on Lugard Road on the Peak have submitted yet another amendment to the Town Planning Board. This means there will be yet another public consultation - the fourth - on the application.
Objectors will have to resubmit their objections by April 8, which comes just after the Easter holiday, and the Town Planning Board hearing is scheduled for April 17.
The developers appear to have taken a leaf out of Hopewell Holdings' playbook by continually going back to the board with amendments in what seems to be an attempt to exhaust the public, and in what is clearly an abuse of the process. But as we have said before, the whole planning process is geared towards helping the developers at the expense of the public interest which the board is supposed to upholding.
The so-called refinements of the latest proposals include a reduction in the number of hotel suites from no more than 17 to 12, and "tighter" restrictions on traffic to the hotel on weekends and public holidays. The developers say they are also exploring alternative means of transport such as electric e-tuks.
The developers also claim they have come up with a "new environmentally friendly sewerage system". This bears closer examination since the original scheme would have involved some 20,000 litres of effluent a day to seep into the surrounding country park area.
Lugard Road is one of the more picturesque and tranquil areas in Hong Kong and is popular with visitors and hikers. Unsurprisingly, the hotel plan has attracted considerable public opposition but was approved by the board in September 2013 - a decision that also raised public ire.
The developer is Crown Empire, which is controlled by Yau Tang-tit, brother of Edward Yau Tang-wah, the former secretary for the environment who now heads the Chief Executive's Office.
How much for HongKong.com?
There was a flurry of interest in the media recently when it was learned that the domain name HongKong.com was available for sale.
However, there was no mention of the price. But this has been revealed to Lai See.
Readers may recall that the domain names HongKong.com and China.com were registered in 1994 by China Internet Corporation, a Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Xinhua.
China.com in 1999 was the first Chinese internet company to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the heady days of the dotcom boom.
China.com shares tripled in value on the first day of listing even though earnings for the year prior to listing amounted to a loss of US$8.5 million. However, as night follows day, the bust followed the boom, and the disappointed shareholders vented their rage in the law courts.
HongKong.com a subsidiary of China.com listed in March 2000 and raised HK$1.38 billion. Five years later, the name disappeared from view following the rout of the tech sector as its name was changed to China.com
The next thing we hear is that in January 2014, China Radio International, a state-owned media conglomerate, is using the domain name China.com after it was bought from China.com Inc for HK$90.8 million in August 2013 by a holding company owned by the broadcaster. It also bought the domain name HongKong.com This name is now being offered for sale by Domain Holdings Group, a brokerage firm that specialises in dealing in premium domain names.
According to emails seen by Lai See, Domain Holding is asking a cool US$5 million for the name HongKong.com


New amendments to Peak boutique hotel

The Lugard Road hotel plan has attracted opposition. Photo: Bruce Yan

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Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


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Lai See