Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

I am happy to put up the occasional Park Island advert up, provided its not from a real estate agent, and especially if you can provide me with some interesting photos that provides useful information about Ma Wan and Park Island. Below are some details of an 2 bedroom apartment on Park Island. 740 square feet, 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, one kitchen, one living room, nice balcony with views. The owner is asking 13K a month inclusive. If you are interested in renting, email me at parkislandproperty@gmail.com and I will pass your details on to the owner.  A Park Island apartment for rent  Dining Area. Park Island apartment  Hall way.  Park Island bedroom  Main bedroom with built in wardrobe. Park Island Kitchen  Gas cooker. Park Island Kitchen  Kitchen. Park Island Balcony  Balcony.  Park Island living room  Living room. Park Island bathroom Bathroom.

It seems to be a trend among expats with money to buy two apartments in Park Island, and then combine them into a single unit. I took a look at a combined unit in Block 16 today, which was two units of 750 sqft each, making 1500 sqft in total. I must say, the living room is huge, and what you then get is 4 bedrooms total (two on the left and two on the right, with the big living room in the middle). You also get two bathrooms. You do however get two kitchens, which you can either keep, or you can convert one kitchen into another bedroom, or a maids room, or a storage room. Some photos of a combined Park Island apartment: A Park Island apartment with two units combined Combined apartments Two apartments knocked into one creates a lot of living room space A spacious Park Island apartment This particular apartment is for sale at 9.3m, but I think 9m could probably get it.

Believe it of not, the two most recent sales for November for Park Island hit record prices. An upper level apartment in Block 17, unit J, sold at $6295 per square foot on 25 November 2011. And an 23 November 2011 an upper level apartment in Block 2 unit C, sold at $6323 per square foot. Really quite suprising given the current turmoil on the global financial markets. Rentals still seem to be between $17 to $20 per square foot range.

Park Island Sunset I took this photo of the sun setting over Park Island last night. What great weather we have had this month in Hong Kong!

Sad to hear the news that Tommy's is indeed closing, having been squeezed out by higher rents demanded by the landlord upon renewal of the lease. Let's hope its not another real-estate agency that takes up this location. I have heard that the dim sum lady just down the road might take the spot. Tommy meanwhile will now do something in the evenings at the location of their other shop near the ferry that right now does takeaway breakfasts, sandwiches, coffee, etc.

I recently spoke to a Hong Kong politician who told me, he had it "on good authority" that there would be car parking on Park Island once the Tuen Mun Chek Lap Kok link was completed. I was not sure what the Tuen Mun Chek Lap Kok link was, so I Googled it, and obtained the following details: Tien Mun Chek Lap Kok link The proposed Tuen Mun – Chek Lap Kok Link and Tuen Mun Western Bypass will provide the most direct route between the Northwest New Territories (NWNT) and Lantau, joining the Kong Sham Western Highway, the port back-up areas in the NWNT, the Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal, the Ecopark, the Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities, the Hong Kong International Airport (the Airport), the proposed Lantau Logistics Park and various North Lantau developments. Upon completion, the new route will significantly reduce the journey time between the NWNT and Lantau. The Project will release some capacity of the existing roads such as Tu

I noticed the possible redevelopment of the Ma Wan old village area is being discussed among Park Island expats on the Ma Wan Network Facebook Group. It seems that the old village will likely be developed with low density housing (ie 3-level villas or houses) and commercial, recreational and tourism facilities (my guess is perhaps a hotel, marina, restaurants along the beach, etc). See below some details about what may be coming: Draft Ma Wan Outline Zoning Plan approved. The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Ma Wan Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). "The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment within the Ma Wan area," a spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (June 12). The Planning Scheme Area covers about 101 hectares of land comprising Ma Wan and Tang Lung Chau. Ma Wan is situated between Tsing Yi and Tsing Chau Tsai Peninsula in northeast Lantau, about five kilometres from Tsuen Wan

I took a few photos of the new Park Island Villas on Ma Wan yesterday. As I wrote earlier, it seems they are being spruced up for promotional launch. An agent I spoke to today told me he has heard they will be priced at 22,000 to 25,000 per square foot. Apparently they will also be given a special name. Ie, not Phase 6 Park Island, but something more prestegious sounding such as Ocean Villas, for example. Park Island Phase 6 Villas Meanwhile, it seems Park Island property prices again hit a new high, although transaction volume remains low. See below the latest price trend graph from Centerline. Centerline price graph

I have noticed substantial activity at the new villas. Teams of gardeners planting flowers, cranes being used to deliver and plant trees. The building next to the villas has had an artificial lawn added on the rooftop (they should have done it with real grass!). So, it seems they are getting ready and sprucing things up for a sales launch. My guess now is it will start being prompoted for sale around Chinese New Year in 2012. Interesting how the extended taxi times happened to be nicely approved just recently. Time will tell what is planned for the structure right next to the villas. To me it still looks very much like a car park, and a while back I saw a whole bunch of Government official types inspecting that structure, measuring, taking photos, looking at building plans, etc.

I am pleased to report that taxi access hours to Ma Wan have now been extended such that taxies, during the week, can enter at all times, except between 7am to 10am. During weekends taxi access is only permitted after 8pm, which I personally am OK with as it will keep away the crowds who would otherwise come to enjoy our beaches on Park Island! Below is the notice I saw posted up by the Park Island Management. Park Island Taxi schedule

Wow - its really interesting to see more new expats arriving on Park Island each week. For those of us who have been on Park Island for some time, the "new arrivals" are very noticable, especially the big smiles on their faces as they realise what a nice lifestyle choice they have made as they walk around the island. The typical profile of our new arrivals seems to be a young couple, 30-35 years of age, often pushing a pram with a small baby (or possibly a pregnant wife expecting a baby). Also noticable are the expat couples aged 55-60, who seem to be happily married, with kids already having grown up and left the home!  It's great to see how quickly new arrivals seem to fit in, get to know residents, hanging out on the beach and at the beach restaurants. (And speaking of the beach, isn't the weather GREAT right now. Blue skys, not too hot, and a little chilled in the evening. I love it right now!). A 3rd common category seem to be young Chinese couples taking up r

Transactions were again been low over the last month, which is not good news for Park Island Real estate agents who make the bulk of their money on property sales. Prices of those properties that did sell last month however again hit absolute record highs. Over the weekend, Sun Hung Kai sold all of its first 50 apartments in its The Wings development at Tseung Kwan O, with a penthouse selling for HKD $20,000 per square foot. Agents I have spoken to think these good sales results will likely lead to higher prices for Park Island, although they don't see a big pickup in sales transactions happening until the recent stock market volatility starts to show signs of stabilization.

Recently there has been talk of an MTR station at Park Island. It seems MTR Corporation may soon conduct a feasibility study into providing an MTR station at Park Island. Primary factors, I would think, are customer demand and profitability, and also whether a station is physically possible to build. See here for the proposed location of the Park Island MTR station: Location of station . Both the Airport Express and the Tung Chung line go though Tsing Ma Bridge above Ma Wan so the proposal seems to be building a platform on Tsing Ma Bridge and then building a ststation with a lift up and down to the train line. My feeling is that both Ma Wan residents, and Hong Kong residents in general would overwhelmingly support having an MTR station at Ma Wan. Whether it would be profitable I am not sure. I presume MTR would have a financial model that calculates not just trips to and from Ma Wan, but also the increased use that residents would make of the MTR network as a whole, as well as lik

Stock markets have been very volitile, and further there will apparently be an announcement on Wednesday about the HK Government providing some more low cost housing for people on lower incomes. Agents tell me that property sales transactions have been very low over the last month, although the very few that did take place seem to have been at "record prices". There have however been more people renting, and it seems the standard asking price is now $20 per square foot, per month.

There was a strong typhoon that hit Hong Kong today. It was very windy on Park Island, and the typhoon weather in Hong Kong caused damage across the city. On Park Island the damage was relatively minor. I captured some photos of Hong Kong during a typhoon below: Some minor damage to a plant. Typhoon damage in Kong Kong A tree was blown over at the Ma Wan beach on Park Island. The smell of a freshly collapsed tree is really nice by the way!  A man swimming during a typhoon  A Ma Wan resident decides to go swimming during the typhoon. Probably not such a good idea... Various potted plant were blown over. Heavy rain gets blown across the Park Island estate. The palm trees seem to survive the gale fore winds though :) Waves crash up against the Park Island surf club-house. Not a single lifeguard in sight by the way, despite one brave (stupid?) soul swimming. The effect of a typhoon on beaches Some parts of the beach on Ma Wan were washed away. If you look clo

Its been a nice summer for people living on Park Island, but I noticed today that when I got into the outdoor pool at Blue Blue, rather than being a nice "Ahhhhhhhh" kind of feeling due to the water having been nicely warmed by the sun, it was more like an "Arrrgggggg" feeling as I realized it was actually a little chilly! Well, maybe chilly is an exaggeration, but you know what I mean. The benefit though was that I did enjoy having a nice steamy sauna afterwards :)

The restaurants on Park Island seem to be doing really well. I noticed that all the popular ones along the beach, both at beach level, and the new Japanese one at the level above the beach have been packed lately. Having spoken to a few of the owners, all are pleasently suprised as the "average spend". Pacific Coffee is also almost always full too. Good to see everyone doing so well. Let's hope Sun Hun Kai do not put up the rent on them all too much when renewals come up!

Where to live in HK? Its a question that is asked by any expat moving to Hong Kong, and indeed also by people already living in HK. When you are first moving HK, you will find everyone has an "opinion". Some will tell you Mid Levels is best, others will tell you Happy Valley is best, and others love Discovery Bay. Park Island, is not as well known as these locations, but as I was having my morning swim today, under the warm sun as it was rising, I thought to myself - "I am SO HAPPY I live here!". As I was swimming, I made a mental list of the top 10 things I like about Park Island: - Good air quality. - Peaceful at night. - No traffic noise. - Great fitness facilities. - Nice clean lobbies, lifts, common areas, and high quality apartment buildings. - Dog friendly (as I like dogs). - Child friendly (great if you have active boys that need outdoors to run around and play). - Surrounded by beaches (I am a "beach person". I love morning and evening beach w

Some photos below: Mid Aurmn Festival

It was a wonderful weekend on Park Island. I spent it swimming, lying on the beach, and eating and drinking! The weather is just great right now. I ate at the Japanese restaurant on Park Island on Saturday night. I sat at one of the outdoor tables, as the weather was just right, and also because I had two small kids with me who can sometimes make a bit of noise and run around. My ratings are as follows: Service - 6/10. Friendly, and food came quite quickly, but the staff were clearly quite new, got a dish wrong, and some of them spoke poor English. No great problems though, and I think they will improve. Decor - 6/10. Clean, tidy, but not particularly Japanese looking. But not bad either. The owners told me they will be doing some further renovation to improve the look of the restaurant. Food - 8.5/10. I was pleasantly surprised. Much better than I expected, and I will be going back again primarily becaue of the food. Value for money - 7/10. Cost came to $425 for two adults and t

There seem to be more French people moving to Park Island. Has anyone else noticed that? Also more Korean air hostesses are moving here, it seems. If you want to meet some of them, they can be often be seen poolside at Chic Chic on weekends. So, if you want to practice your Korean, or are looking for a Korean friend, girlfriend, or wife, that might be a good place to meet them! Has the gwailo who has joined the old folks doing tai chi in the piazza started a trend? Apparently a second gwailo was spotted joining them last week.  Maybe I should give it a try? The luxury villas are apparently having their current kitchens ripped out and a newer modern kitchen installed. Word is that Sun Hung Kai are going to position these as even more upmarket than they had initially planned, so are now putting in top of the line European kitchens. Around 20 workmen and engineering-looking types were recently seen thoroughly inspecting the structure right next to the new villas. What were they up to