Hong Kong private sports clubs must pay land premiums or open doors as leases end

AI Summary

Hong Kong authorities notified 15 private sports clubs that when their leases expire at year-end, they must either pay a substantial portion of their land premium or open their facilities to the public. This move is part of a plan announced in 2019 to change longstanding private club policies regarding land use and accessibility.

Hong Kong’s 15 private sports clubs must either pay one-third of their land premium, ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, or open their doors to the public when their leases expire at the end of the year, authorities have confirmed. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said on Tuesday that it has begun notifying the clubs and outlining lease renewal procedures, including premium payment requirements. The arrangement, first announced in 2019, ends the long-standing...