Appointment of Most Preferred Proponent for the Development of Ocean Hotel

Today, Ocean Park announces the appointment of Capital Court Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lai Sun Development Company Limited (“Lai Sun”), as the Most Preferred Proponent (“MPP”) for the development of Ocean Park’s upcoming Ocean Hotel. The MPP has further nominated Marriott International, Inc. as the proposed operator for the Ocean Hotel.

Mr. Tom Mehrmann, Chief Executive of Ocean Park, said, “The new 495-room Ocean Hotel will be built on a 17,044 square-metre site in front of Ocean Park’s main entrance.  We are thrilled to have reached this point in the process, as it has been a rigorous and comprehensive exercise.  Throughout the tender process, independent consultants were appointed to provide independent and professional advice on the assessment of all hotel proposals. In the end, Lai Sun was selected because it has achieved and exceeded the passing scores under the technical evaluations on design excellence, financial strength and management credentials, and has proposed the highest premium amount out of all the tender submissions. I look forward to embarking on this exciting and ambitious project with them after they have fulfilled all planning approval conditions.”

Ocean Park will shortly be making a submission to the Town Planning Board as required for the final approval of the existing planning permission for the hotel development. Upon fulfillment of all planning approval conditions and completion of the lease modification process, the MPP will be appointed as the successful proponent and official developer for the Ocean Hotel by the first quarter of 2014.  It is expected to break ground in the first half of 2014 and be completed and opened to the public by early 2017. The estimated construction cost is HK$2.5 billion, while the land premium amount offered by the MPP is approximately HK$1.6 billion.

During the tender process, declarations of interest were made by all relevant board members of Ocean Park. Those board members with any interest in any of the parties submitting tenders did not take part in any deliberation, assessment or scoring of the tenders, while the Independent Commission Against Corruption (“ICAC”) was engaged to provide input on and review the tender procedures and observe the scoring process.

With the completion of the Master Redevelopment Plan and the planned opening of a number of new world-class attractions from 2014 onwards, Ocean Hotel will be a significant milestone for both Ocean Park and Hong Kong, as it provides convenient accommodations for guests spending multiple days at Ocean Park, and transforms Hong Kong’s People Park into a premier international resort destination and further fulfills its role as a major pillar of the city’s tourism industry.