Gov’t repossessing undeveloped land

The government is set to repossess a total of 13 undeveloped land plots, as an announcement filed with the Official Gazette yesterday invalidated the land grants for three more plots – one of which is the location of the failed development of a 22-storey commercial complex behind the Waldo Hotel on the Macau Peninsula.
Of the three plots of land that the government has announced it will repossess, the largest of them by area – occupying 1,636 square metres – is located behind Waldo Hotel. The plot was originally granted to Companhia de Investimento Imobiliário On Tai, Limitada for the building of a commercial and office complex.
This plot, known as Lot ‘6K’ in ZAPE, is in fact adjacent to the four plots of land near Lan Kwai Fong Hotel that Hong-Kong listed gaming services firm China Star Entertainment Ltd. failed to dispose of earlier this year.
China Star Entertainment announced in late March the termination of the proposed disposal of the four plots. Through a subsidiary, China Star Entertainment had first acquired the four plots of land from Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau, S.A. (STDM) in 2010 for HK$550 million.
The casino services firm originally intended to develop the four plots of land as a single parcel to build a luxury residential and commercial complex, but a lack of government green light resulted in the land remaining undeveloped.
The other two plots of land that the government announced yesterday it would invalidate the land grants for are both located in Taipa.
One of them, a plot known as Lot ‘13-C’ occupying 1,634 square metres, is located at Rua de Viseu in Taipa and had been granted to Pedro Yip Wai Chau and Cheong Pek Kuan for building a car inspection and maintenance base.
Another plot is a residential site occupying 936 square metres located at Baía do Pac On in Taipa, on which the land grantee Sociedade Imobiliária Belo Horizonte Limitada failed to build a villa.
Of the 13 plots of undeveloped land that the government is set to repossess, nine are residential and industrial sites located in Taipa.
Land grantees that disagree with the government’s decision to take back the land can file an appeal with the Court of Second Instance within 30 days following the gazetting of the invalidated land grant in the official dispatch.
Since 2011, the government has confirmed that 48 parcels of land might be contributing factors in the delay in land development – with 12 located on the Macau Peninsula, and another 36 in Taipa.