Property development group Lai Fung Holdings Limited has indicated that its Innovation Leadership Academy Hengqin – included in Phase II of its Novotown project – is expected to open in February 2021 and admit students from Grades 1 to 9 in its first year.
The company has a cooperation agreement with Harrow International (China) Management Services Limited and ILA Holdings Limited to set up the Innovation Leadership Academy in Hengqin.
The curriculum of the academy is structured to bring together British and Chinese educational philosophies and will offer pre-kindergarten to grade 12 education with a maximum capacity of approximately 1,500 students, as well as facilities for boarding students.
The school has been designed by Aedas, the same architecture firm responsible for the Ali Centre in Shanghai, the Sina Plaza in Beijing, the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station and the Dubai Metro.
The property development arm of Hong Kong’s Lai Sun Group also indicated in its most recent financial report that it is in the process of finalising the development plan for Real Madrid World and Ducati Experience Centre, as well as other facilities in Novotown Phase II.
The Ducati Experience Centre expects to cover an area of no less than 4,500 square meters and will offer immersive racing experiences, exclusive Ducati exhibits and retail concessions, while The Real Madrid World entertainment centre is expected to contain over 20 attractions, including interactive training games, a walkthrough of Real Madrid history, plus dining and retail outlets.
A total site area of approximately 143,800 square meters near Novotown Phase I has been designated for the development of Novotown Phase II.
‘The Group will continue to explore and evaluate potential strategic alliances and financing alternatives to accelerate the growth of Novotown,’ Lai Sun indicated.
According to the group, the construction work of Novotown Phase I has been completed and sale of cultural studios and cultural workshops has been ‘well received by the market’ with the pre-sale permit being granted by Hengqin New District government and the office tower of Novotown Phase I has been re-designated as for sale property.
Novotown Phase I comprises a 493-room Hyatt Regency hotel – which held a soft opening in December, 2019 – offices, cultural workshops, cultural studios, shopping and leisure facilities with a total GFA of approximately 2.7 million square feet, as well as 1,844 car-parking spaces and ancillary facilities.
The project also includes a Lionsgate Entertainment World theme park and the National Geographic Ultimate Explorer family edutainment center which opened in July and September of last year, respectively.
Novotown reopened on June 24, 2020 after 5 months of closure as part of preventive and implemented protective measures against the spread of the COVID-19.
The Hengqin district of Zhuhai received nearly three times as many visitors as Macau during Golden Week this year, some 450,000 or 36 per cent more than in the same period last year.
Of these visitors, over 310,000 visited Chimelong International Ocean Tourist Resort, Sumlodol Hengqin Camping Town, and the Lionsgate Entertainment World, the area’s main them parks.
Some HK$12.1 million in rental turnover Novotown Phase I has been reported for the financial year ended on July of this year, with a 69 per cent retail occupancy rental rate – including the cultural attraction spaces occupied by Lionsgate Entertainment World and National Geographic Ultimate Explorer Hengqin – and 15.5 per cent hotel occupancy rate.
Hotel revenue generated by Novotown Phase I amounted to HK$8.2 million, while retail spaces generated some HK$3.9 million int he period under review.
Lai Sun also described the sales of cultural studios and cultural workshop units of Hengqin Novotown Phase I in the period under review as ‘strong’, with the sale of 34,379 square feet of cultural studios and 45,969 square feet of cultural workshop units were recognised at an average selling price of HK$4,131 and HK$3,291 per square foot, respectively, which contributed a total of HK$274.1 million to the group’s turnover.
The group’s rental portfolio includes a total of 4.5 million square feet of rental gross floor area in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhongshan and Hengqin, being Tier 1 cities
in China and cities within the Greater Bay Area, contributed approximately 63 per cent of its total turnover for the year under review.
