The owner, Hotung's granddaughter, applied for permission to redevelop in mid-2010; technical approval was gained from the Buildings Department in December 2010 as it satisfied planning requirements. 11 blocks of four-storey houses would be built; a total floor area would be 60,000 square feet. although such declaration does not confer statutory protection. In late January 2011, the Government of Hong Kong invoked the
Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance for the fourth time in history, declared it a "
proposed historic monument", thus imposing a 12-month moratorium on redevelopment of the site, pending negotiations with the owner. In October 2011, two government consultancy reports, by experts at the
University of Hong Kong and submitted to the Antiquity Advisory Board, concluded that it has high historical and architectural value. On 24 October 2011, the Antiquities Advisory Board approved the government proposal to declare the Ho Tung Gardens on the Peak
a monument. Bernard Chan, Chairman of the AAB argued to preserve the mansions because "The choice of a very Chinese-looking style of architecture for the new house in 1927 ... was a statement that a racial barrier was being broken. It was also a declaration by Hotung that he was different from his neighbors, who were only living in the colony temporarily before going home." However, some other architectural historians believe that the mansion is an ordinary piece of architecture at the time that cannot be compared with other examples of "Chinese Renaissance" architecture such as
King Yin Lei and
Haw Par Mansion. In December 2011, the government announced that it would declare Hotung Gardens a protected monument prior to the expiry of the temporary injunctive declaration made in January. This put the government at loggerheads with the site's owner, who insisted on retaining the site and living in one of the ten units she wished to have built there. Ho Min-kwan argued that the existing main building is "unexceptional ... does not have the requisite historical or architectural value or authenticity; it is not a rare example of an architectural style, and it is not a distinctive building structure." She also noted that her grandfather never lived there, and that the main building had already been converted into six apartments. Demolition work of the principal building started in July 2013 and was completed in late October, paving the way for construction of a series of town houses on the site. Ho Tung Gardens was sold in February 2015 for a sum of HKD5.1 billion. At HKD82,258 per sq.ft of buildable area, this marks the most expensive residential plot sold by private tender in Hong Kong. The sale also shone the global spotlight on the property, with the deal placing Peak Road atop the list of 'The World's Top 10 Most Exclusive Streets' in survey results released in July 2015 by Billionaire.com – notably above Upper Fifth Avenue in the United States and Knightsbridge in London. The new buyer is alleged to be Cheung Chung Kiu, Chairman of C C Land Holdings Ltd. The 120,000 sq.ft site is expected to be redeveloped, and as per Cap 117 Part IIIA Division 5 of the Stamp Duty Ordinance, will grant the buyer a refund of HKD980 million in stamp duty should the redevelopment go ahead. == See also ==