I do believe we will see Shenmue HD. Shenmue 3 showed us it can happen.
But as great as it was to hear that initial comment from Sega, I can't help but wonder why are you only investigating now? Over a year since the success of the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter showed that there is a considerable market for this franchise. As soon as Shenmue 3 hit 5 million during the Kickstarter for talks sake, there should have a meeting called at Sega and a HD remake greenlit for production there and then. Take a month, or 3 and investigate licenses. Not over a year later.
Plus you would think Sega would want to do it justice, as they have said in the past, so give a team the maximum amount of time to work on it. Not just over a year before Shenmue 3 arrives.
Hopefully it's all a smokescreen though and Sega had the foresight to grab what is essentially free money from the gaming consumer.