URA commences two pilot projects in Kowloon City to redevelop buildings under the Civil Servants' Co-operative Building Society Scheme

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (22 May, 2020) commences the statutory planning procedures of two pilot projects in Kowloon City, which involve the redevelopment of buildings under the Civil Servants’ Co-operative Building Society (CBS) Scheme in response to the Government’s strategy of increasing housing supply through redevelopment of CBS buildings thereby unleashing the development potential of those sites, as mentioned in the Policy Address in both 2018 and 2019.  Opportunity is also taken to improve the overall environment and synergise with other urban renewal projects in the vicinal area of the two projects by way of restructuring and re-planning.

The Government invited the URA to explore and identify one to two clusters of CBS sites which are suitable for high-density development as pilot projects for redevelopment in accordance with the URA’s prevailing project implementation approach under the Urban Renewal Authority Ordinance, with an aim to boost housing supply with some of the resumed land earmarked for public housing development. The URA has since studied possible CBS sites in high-density residential areas, taking into consideration, inter alia, the potential for additional housing supply, and the proximity to public housing estates and their ancillary facilities. 

Director (Planning and Design) of the URA, Wilfred Au, said at today’s press conference, “After careful consideration, two CBS sites in Kowloon City have been selected as pilot projects for redevelopment, namely, Shing Tak Street/Ma Tau Chung Road Development Project (CSB-1:KC) and Kau Pui Lung Road/Chi Kiang Street Development Scheme (CBS-2:KC). Located adjacent to several public estates, the two sites consist solely of CBS buildings having a relatively large site area suitable for holistic restructuring and re-planning to generate more useable floor areas and to bring about enhanced benefits to the community.”

Maximising development potential to address housing needs

The development potential of both sites will be fully utilised to maximise flat supply.  For CBS-2:KC, a portion of road will be incorporated into the development scheme so that through re-planning of land uses within the project area, not only will floor area be increased upon development, more planning benefits could be achieved.  About one-third of the project area at the southern part of CBS-2:KC will be handed over free to the Government for the provision of public housing after land resumption.  Subject to detailed design, it is estimated that the total number of flats after redevelopment of both projects will be about five times of the existing, from about 600 to 3,000 units.

Enhancing district connectivity and walkability

“In addition to boosting housing supply, the two pilot projects are implemented with a view to enhancing connectivity and accessibility of the district as well as providing a better pedestrian environment through re-planning.  Besides, the projects will also help create a more liveable community through appropriate landscaping and urban design,” Mr Au added.

To enhance the connectivity within the project area of CBS-1:KC,  pavement surrounding the site will be widened, offering an opportunity to explore with the Government on pedestrian crossing improvement work to provide a pedestrian-friendly environment.  Upon development, the existing crowded condition at the queuing and disembarking area of the bus and mini-bus stops facing Ma Tau Chung Road will be relieved.

As for CBS-2:KC, a portion of Maidstone Road and Kiang Su Street will be pedestrianised.  An underground shopping street will also be planned connecting two entrances of the to-be-completed To Kwa Wan MTR Station of the Shatin to Central Link.  The integration of the pedestrian walkway at ground level and the shopping street underground will form a multi-level pedestrian network enhancing walkability and accessibility.  Subject to the design inside the MTR station, CBS-2:KC would be connected to the To Kwa Wan area which is undergoing renewal, through the underground pedestrian network within the station, thereby facilitating movements between the two regenerated communities.

Enhancing townscape with greater street and community vibrancy

Ground floor shopping areas will be provided along street frontages of both projects to infuse street vibrancy.  There will be a piazza and communal open space in CBS-2:KC integrated with the pedestrian walkway to provide the community with open spaces for different uses.  Underground space will also be utilised to incorporate a car park providing some 400 car parking spaces.  With about 140 of the parking spaces being dedicated for public use, the URA will explore with concerned government departments to cut back on-street parking spaces along Kau Pui Lung Road so as to release more ground spaces for enhancing pedestrian environment in the vicinity.

In accordance with the URAO, the URA’s notices announcing the commencement of the two pilot projects are published in the Gazette today.

A two-month publication period of CBS-1:KC will commence today.  A site plan delineating the boundary of the project with a general description will be put on display for public inspection within this two-month period at the URA website (www.ura.org.hk) or the following locations unless otherwise specified in the URA website:

• the URA Headquarters (26/F COSCO Tower, 183 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong);
• the URA’s Kowloon City Neighbourhood Centre (Units K & L, 1/F Sunshine Plaza, 17 Sung On Street, Hung Hom, Kowloon); and
• the Public Enquiry Service Centre of the Kowloon City District Office (LG/F, Kowloon City Government Offices, 42 Bailey Street, Hung Hom, Kowloon)

According to the Urban Renewal Strategy, the Stage 1 Social Impact Assessment (SIA) Report prepared by the URA for CBS-1:KC will be made available for public information at the above locations including the URA website.  The Stage 2 SIA Report is being scheduled for public information from 8 July 2020 to 22 July 2020. 

As the implementation of CBS-2:KC involves the amendment of the outline zoning  plan of the district, the URA will submit a draft Development Scheme Plan (DSP) of CBS-2:KC, together with the Stage 1 SIA Report, to the Town Planning Board (TPB) not later than 25 May 2020.  The Stage 2 SIA Report is intended for submission to the TPB on or before 8 July 2020.  The information will be available for public inspection at the specified Planning Enquiry Counters from the date as determined by the TPB.  Such information will also be made available for public inspection at the URA Headquarters, the URA’s Kowloon City Neighbourhood Centre and the URA website (www.ura.org.hk) until the draft DSP is reviewed by the TPB.  If the draft DSP is deemed to be suitable for publication under the Town Planning Ordinance after consideration by the TPB, it will be exhibited by the TPB for a period of two months.  During this period, any person may make representation in writing to the TPB in respect of the draft DSP.  Approval of the draft DSP will only be granted by the Chief Executive in Council upon submission of all the representations on the draft DSP by the TPB.

Also at the press conference today, Director (Acquisition and Clearance) of the URA, Mr Ian Wong, said that redevelopment of CBS buildings is more complicated than that of private old buildings. The former involves a range of procedures covering the dissolution of co-operative societies, drawing up sub-deeds, setting up owners’ corporations, acquisition of legal titles of the premises by the related CBS members, and payment of the outstanding land premium to the Government. Therefore, in the course of the planning and acquisition of the pilot projects, the URA will launch a new support service through the Urban Redevelopment Facilitating Services Company Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the URA, to provide free legal consultation service to CBS members of those co-operative societies of the two pilot projects, that are yet to dissolve, in handling the dissolution process and acquiring the sub-deeds and legal titles. The URA has set up a hotline (2588 2720) for CBS members to inquire about details of this support service.

Upon approval of CBS-1:KC and CBS-2:KC by the Secretary for Development and the Chief Executive in Council respectively, the URA would proceed with acquisition of the properties in accordance with the prevailing policy.  After the completion of dissolution of CBS and acquisition of sub-deeds and legal titles of the premises, CBS members can accept the URA’s acquisition offer and repay land premium to the Government to remove the alienation restriction for completing the transaction.

Considering that a portion of the compensation offered by the URA to the affected former CBS members will be used for repaying the outstanding land premium to the Government, a special arrangement will be provided by the Government for eligible owner-occupiers of CBS premises, allowing them to purchase the subsidised sale flats of dedicated rehousing estates to be developed and managed by the Hong Kong Housing Society as an alternative of flat replacement to the “Flat-for-Flat” units provided by the URA.  It is initially estimated that the units of the dedicated rehousing estates will be completed by 2025 to 2026 for sale.

As social distancing measures are still in force, the URA will implement a series of infection prevention and control measures in the course of conducting freezing survey of the pilot projects.  This is intended to safeguard the health of both occupants and URA staff members, and reduce the risk of infection and spread of virus while ensuring the collection of accurate records on occupant details and occupancy status of the property.  These measures include equipping URA staff members with protective gears and disinfectant materials such as masks, goggles and alcohol hand sanitizer, along with conducting registration at the doorstep of the property to maintain a greater distance between the occupants and URA staff members. Images of the conditions inside individual units will be recorded using remote controlled video camera. In addition, URA staff members will focus on gathering the essential information related to the occupants’ identity and occupancy status of the property being surveyed, in order to shorten the survey time of each household.  SIA information on the household profile, socio-economic characteristics, housing preferences and community network, special needs of individual occupants and families, will be collected via a questionnaire either through a telephone interview or filled out by the occupants themselves.

To avoid the gathering of crowd, the URA will replace the public briefing sessions with pre-recorded briefing videos covering matters on the planning procedure, the URA’s acquisition and rehousing arrangement, as well as the process and procedures of CBS dissolution.  Occupants can view the videos via mobile devices by scanning the QR code or through the web link printed on the notices or letters issued by the URA.

An urban renewal social service team staffed by professional social workers of Lutheran Church–Hong Kong Synod has been appointed by the Urban Renewal Fund to provide assistance to the owners and occupants of the two pilot projects who are in need.The social service team can be reached at 3596 6850. Occupants can also visit the URA Headquarters, call the URA’s Hotline at 2588 2333 or visit the URA website at www.ura.org.hk for more detailed project information.

 

Appendix: Details and proposed development parameters of the two pilot projects

	Shing Tak Street/ Ma Tau Chung Road Development Project（CBS-1:KC）	Kau Pui Lung Road/ Chi Kiang Street Development Scheme（CBS-2:KC）
Location	Nos. 2-4A Ma Tau Kok Road (even number),  Nos. 12-34 Shing Tak Street (even number) and Nos. 51-77 Ma Tau Chung Road (odd number)	Nos. 59-77, 99-117, 123-133 Maidstone Road (odd number), Nos. 82-128 Maidstone Road (even number), Nos. 153-175, 181-189 Kau Pui Lung Road (odd number), Nos. 1-3, 7-9 Kiang Su Street (odd number), Nos. 4-14 Kiang Su Street (even number) and Nos. 52-58, 52A-58A Chi Kiang Street (even number)
Total project area (square metre)	About 5,160	About 16,470
Number of affected Civil Servants' Cooperative Building Societies	9	28
Estimated number of affected households*	About 150	About 460
Proposed Development Content **
Domestic gross floor area (square metre)	About 32,000	About 122,000 (of which 45,000 square metres will be allocated for public housing)
Number of residential flats	About 640	About 2,500
Estimated completion date	2029	2030/2031

*Subject to the result of freezing survey

**Subject to future detailed design

 

 (ENDS)