Sai Yee Street Project in Mong Kok will begin property acquisitio
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) would issue offer letters to
owners of 175 property interests affected by the Sai Yee Street
project in Mong Kok in ten working days. Eligible owner-occupiers
of domestic properties will be offered $7,012 per square foot of
saleable floor area.
A spokesman of the URA also clarified reports published yesterday(
Monday) and today (Tuesday) on URA's offer for the Sai Yee Street
project. "The figures as quoted are not provided by the URA and not
accurate," said the spokesperson.
The acquisition offers for domestic properties are based on the
Government's Home Purchase Allowance (HPA) policy in which HPA is
the difference between the market value of the acquired property
and that of a notional seven-year-old flat of similar size in a
similar locality. In addition to the market value of the acquired
properties, eligible owner-occupiers will receive the full HPA
amount whereas owners of tenanted and vacant domestic properties
will receive a supplementary allowance (SA) up to half of the
HPA.
"In accordance with established mechanism, the URA has appointed
seven independent valuation firms for the valuation of the unit
rate of the notional seven-year-old flat," the spokesman
said.
For a building in single ownership, it is valued either on its
existing use value plus relevant allowances for shops and domestic
units in the building or on its redevelopment value plus 5% as
ex-gratia allowance, whichever is higher.
Apart from cash compensation, the URA has decided to extend the
"Expression of Interest in Purchasing Arrangement" pilot scheme to
this project so that owner-occupiers of domestic properties can
express to the URA their interest in getting an opportunity to
purchase a new flat in the new development at market price when the
project is offered for sale. This is designed for those who will
have a need to move back to the same location for personal reasons
such as to maintain their social networks.
Affected owners will have ample time to consider the URA's offers
and to accept them within 60 days after receiving the offers.
Owners will also receive an incidental cost allowance (ICA), where
applicable, as an incentive for them to accept the offers within
the 60-day period. The current ICA for owner-occupied
domestic property is $109,500 or $105 per square foot ($1,135 per
square metre) of saleable floor area, whichever is higher. For
domestic property that is tenanted or vacant, the ICA is
$85,900.
For non-domestic properties, the acquisition offers to eligible
owners will include an ex-gratia allowance on top of the market
value. The allowance for tenanted or vacant non-domestic
property is 10 per cent of its market value or one time the
government rateable value, whichever is higher. The allowance
for owner-occupied non-domestic property is 35 per cent of its
market value or four times its rateable value, whichever is
higher.
Eligible shop owners who occupy the shops and shop tenants will
enjoy an additional Ex-gratia Business Allowance (EGBA) up to three
times rateable value (roughly equivalent to 36 months' rent)
payable at the rate of 0.1 time rateable value for each year of
continuous occupation of the premises up to a maximum of 30 years,
subject to a minimum amount of $70,000 and a maximum of $500,000.
This allowance is intended for alleviating the possible business
loss due to redevelopment.
The URA plans to redevelop the project site into a "Sports Retail
City" which is designed to enhance the unique local character of
the sports retail trade. It will provide about 88,800 square feet
of floor area for retail, recreation, sports and cultural uses and
150,000 square feet for residential uses after its expected
completion in 2013.
Upon completion of the property acquisition, the URA will make
ex-gratia payment or rehousing arrangement for the tenants
concerned, if eligible.
The URA will organise a series of briefings for the affected
owners, residents and shop operators to explain to them the
acquisition and compensation and rehousing arrangements. It
has also appointed an urban renewal social service team to provide
professional and practical services alongside URA frontline staff
for the affected residents.
Residents and owners who want to make enquiries may also call the
URA hotline 2588 2333.
(ENDS)