URA issues acquisition offers for First Street/Second Street Project
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) issues offer letters to owners
affected by the First Street/Second Street redevelopment project
today (Thursday) to acquire their properties by private agreement.
Affected owner-occupiers of domestic properties will be offered
$3,137 per square foot on a saleable area basis.
The URA Board approved the purchase offers during a regular
meeting today.
A URA spokesman said that approximately $468 million would be used
to acquire all the 293 interests involved in this project. Overall,
the project is estimated to cost a total of $1,134 million
including costs of acquisition, re-housing, interest and
development.
According to a URA occupancy survey conducted earlier, the project
at Sai Ying Pun, one of the earliest residential districts on Hong
Kong Island, will affect about 300 households comprising about 750
persons.
"The owners will have ample time to consider our offers and to
accept them within the next 60 days," he said.
Purchase offers of the URA are based on Government's Home Purchase
Allowance (HPA) policy that links the level of compensation to the
open market value of a notional seven-year-old replacement domestic
flat in a similar locality for owner-occupiers.
The purchase offers also include an incidental cost allowance,
where applicable, as an incentive to encourage owners to sell their
domestic properties to the Authority within the 60-day period. This
allowance serves as a subsidy for the removal and various expenses
normally incurred in the purchase of a replacement flat.
With reference to Government's current rate of ex-gratia removal
allowance, the URA's incidental cost allowance for owner-occupied
domestic property will be $1,030 per square metre (or about $96 per
square foot) of the saleable area or, in any event, not less than a
lump sum of $96,000. For domestic property that is either tenanted
or left vacant, the lump sum allowance is $73,250. The incidental
cost allowance is kept under constant review and adjusted for each
individual project.
"We have begun sending out the offer letters to individual owners
today. The letters contain all the details of the offers, the
valuation method and the incidental cost allowance," the spokesman
said.
In addition, the URA will organise a series of briefings for both
domestic and non-domestic owners shortly on details of the offers
and the acquisition procedure. URA staff will give personal
attention to each individual case of affected owner and tenant. A
hotline service (telephone no. 2588 2333) will be provided to
answer any enquiry that the residents may have.
The URA appreciates that some residents may experience personal or
family difficulties during the process of acquisition and removal.
Therefore, an urban renewal social service team operated by St.
James' Settlement has been designated to provide counselling
service and practical assistance to these residents.
Covering a site area of about 3,511 square metres, the project
will be a residential development with some retail accommodations
to be completed in about six years' time. Improvements will include
an open space area of 700 square metres and a residential care home
for the elderly of 2,200 square metres.
An initial artist's impression of the project after redevelopment
is available at
http://www.ura.org.hk/usrAtt/512000/first_st_ai.jpg
