Press Releases
Year 2002
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22 Aug 2002
URA tender closes for Kennedy Town site
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) said today (Thursday) that it has received four tender offers for its residential development project in Ka Wai Man Road, Kennedy Town. "Despite the recent short-term change in the general mood of the property market, the number of tender offers received indicates that property developers still show a considerable interest in the URA's projects," a URA spokesman said. "The market has shown a remarkable resilience since the beginning of this year and is likely to continue a steady progress in the foreseeable future," he commented. He pointed out that during a URA invitation of expression of interest in the project earlier this year, a total of 25 developers expressed their interest and 22 of them who were qualified were subsequently invited to place
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14 Aug 2002
URA Press Statement
In response to remarks made by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands regarding some news reports on the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (14 August 2002), a URA spokesman makes the following statement: "We welcome the Government's reiterated commitment to urban renewal and fully recognise the significant financial support made by the Government to the URA. The URA is always highly conscious of the need to maintain financial prudence and achieve cost-effectiveness whilst discharging its social responsibility towards residents and property owners affected by the URA's projects. It has always been one of our prime objectives to ensure that our urban renewal programme, as outlined in the Government's Urban Renewal Strategy published in November 2001, will be self-financing in
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2 Aug 2002
Invitation to Tender for Ka Wai Man Road Project
The Urban Renewal Authority today (2 August 2002) invites 22 qualified interested parties to tender for its Ka Wai Man Road redevelopment project in Kennedy Town subsequent to the expressions of interest received. With a site area of about 730 square metres, the project will produce a 27- storey residential tower on a four-level podium carpark with a total gross floor area of about 7,300 square metres. The site at Ka Wai Man Road was earmarked by the Government as a linked site to facilitate the implementation of the Kennedy Town New Praya project, which was commenced by the former Land Development Corporation. Invited parties are asked to return their submissions to the Authority on or before 22 August 2002.
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26 Jul 2002
Sino Land wins URA's project in Tsuen Wan
The Urban Renewal Authority today (Friday) announced that Sino Land's wholly-owned subsidiary, Prime Harvest Development Limited, has won a joint venture contract for the URA's Tsuen Wan Town Centre redevelopment project in a public tender exercise. The 20,300-square metre site between Tai Ho Road and Yeung Uk Road, will produce about 1,900 residential units with a total floor area of 107,000 square metres and 22,800 square metres for retail use. In addition, there will be 3,300 square metres for transport and community facilities, 3,700 square metres of open space and 530 parking spaces. The total investment in the redevelopment project is estimated at about $4 billion. Construction work will begin shortly and is expected to be completed around 2006. Sino Land is one of seven major
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25 Jul 2002
Response by the URA Spokesman to Media Enquiries
In response to media enquiries concerning remarks made by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands regarding urban renewal policy during a luncheon meeting today, a spokesman of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) makes the following comment: "We welcome Government's commitment to urban renewal and fully recognise the significant financial support made by the Government to the URA. In implementing its projects, the URA is highly conscious of the need to achieve financial prudence and cost-effectiveness whilst discharging its social responsibility to residents and property owners affected by the projects. It has always been our objective to ensure that the urban renewal programme should be self-financing in the long run. In this context, we will keep our policies and operations
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18 Jul 2002
URA Board adopts pay review report
The Board of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Thursday) discussed and decided to accept fully Government's recommendations based on a recent review of the remuneration of senior executives of eleven public bodies including the URA. The review report, received by the URA about four weeks ago, concluded that the current remuneration level and mix of the URA's senior executives were generally comparable to the target level of the review, i.e. the market median level of remuneration of comparable companies in the private sector. The URA Board, in a regular meeting today, agreed unanimously that the findings of the report were reasonable and acceptable. The Board further agreed to implement the recommendations raised by the Chief Secretary for Administration. The recommendations
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17 Jul 2002
URA achieves significant progress in acquisition projects
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has made significant progress in the acquisition of old and dilapidated properties for its three redevelopment projects in Wan Chai, Sham Shui Po and Tai Kok Tsui. Since acquisition offers were first made to all registered owners on 28 March, the URA has succeeded in reaching agreements with about 80 percent of the owners in the Johnston Road project in Wan Chai, 72 percent in Fuk Wing Street/Fuk Wah Street project, Sham Shui Po and 52 percent in Cherry Street project, Tai Kok Tsui. Overall, there are a total of 416 property interests in the three project areas and the URA has secured agreements to acquire 259 of them, representing an average sign-up rate of 62 percent. The three projects are the first ones launched since the new Urban Renewal Ordin
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9 Jul 2002
Tender Submission for Tsuen Wan Town Centre Project
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has received a total of seven submissions from property developers for the development of the Tsuen Wan Town Centre project, which covers a site area of over 20,000 square metres. The submission of tenders closed today (Tuesday) at 12:00 noon. An URA spokesman described the response as very satisfactory. He said that this showed that private sector developers have a keen interest in URA projects and are ready to participate in joint ventures with the URA in redeveloping run-down areas of the territory. A tender panel under the URA Board will assess proposals by the tenderers and make recommendation to the Board for the award of development contract within the next couple of weeks. The redevelopment is one of the projects commenced by the former Land
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5 Jul 2002
URA unveils new project in Sham Shui Po
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) takes a major step forward in implementing its first five-year Corporate Plan with the launch of the redevelopment project at Po On Road/Shun Ning Road in Sham Shui Po district as a task force of 45 staff began a three-day survey today (Friday) to update occupancy records of the 260 affected households. "This project marks the formal start of our five-year Corporate Plan and first-year Business Plan following earlier approval by Government and injection of capital by the Legislature late last month," URA Managing Director, Mr. Billy Lam, said. In fact, this year the Authority has commenced its three "early launch" projects in Sham Shui Po, Tai Kok Tsui and Wan Chai ahead of Government's approval. Outlining project details at an operation briefing fo
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28 Jun 2002
New office for Urban Renewal Authority
The office of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will move to the Low Block of the Grand Millennium Plaza on 181 Queen's Road Central, with effect from 2 July 2002. The telephone number (2588 2222) and fax number (2827 0176 / 2827 0085) remain unchanged. The new office premises, measuring 55,000 square feet in area, includes an information centre where members of the public can access information about the work of the Authority. Besides highlighting the mission and vision of the Authority in respect of redevelopment, revitalisation, rehabilitation and preservation, the information centre also features interactive activities about urban renewal. As a result of office relocation, the Authority will achieve an annual saving of about $22 million. Apart from its main office at the Grand Mil