New World carried on selling flats at The Pavilia Farm III after concrete defects were found, as engineers didn’t deem them serious
- The developer enjoyed two lively sales weekends after the defects were found in two blocks later earmarked for demolition
- Some buyers struck a forgiving tone, saying New World had acted properly and would learn from the experience
The sale on June 20 was a success, with the developer selling 169 of the 173 flats on offer for a total haul of about HK$2.7 billion (US$347.57 million) in one day. The biggest customer forked out HK$54 million for three flats, while a unit at Tower 1A sold at HK$29,037 per square foot, a price record for Phase III.
“As the test result was preliminary, maybe the [developer] wanted to double confirm” before taking drastic action, said CGS-CIMB Securities’ managing director Raymond Cheng, adding that the sales outcome would not have been affected by much even if the test results had been known. “Of course it’s not ideal and very good, but it’s not intentional.”
Days later, on July 3, New World’s contractor reported that the concrete strength in sections of the wall base in two of the seven tower blocks in the project’s latest phase failed to meet design standards. It was another five days before the developer took the unprecedented step of announcing its plan to tear down and rebuild the affected towers, and compensate customers for delaying their delivery by nine months.
