Press Releases
Year 2021
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17 Feb 2021
Reopening of URA facilities
In view of the Government’s phased resumption of public services as epidemic situation stabilises, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announces today (17 February 2021) that its facilities will reopen on 18 February 2021 (Thursday). The Urban Renewal Exploration Centre (UREC) and SPORTS EXPO will resume its visiting sessions on 18 February. The online booking services of the two facilities (UREC: http://urec.org.hk/urec/about/ and SPORTS EXPO: https://k28.ura-vb.org.hk/) has resumed with immediate effect for public booking. The UREC’s docent services at old urban district and SPORTS EXPO’s group visiting sessions will remain suspended until further notice. The community space, exhibition areas and multi-purpose rooms at H6 CONET, 7 Mallory Street and 618 Shanghai Street will reopen
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11 Feb 2021
URA’s Shing Tak Street / Ma Tau Chung Road Development Project: Authorisation by the Secretary for Development
The Secretary for Development (SDEV) has authorised the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) to proceed with the Shing Tak Street / Ma Tau Chung Road Development Project (the Project) in Kowloon City, which is published in the Gazette today (11 February). Commenced earlier on 22 May 2020, the Project was implemented by way of a development project in accordance with the Urban Renewal Authority Ordinance (URAO). During the following two-month publication period, the URA had received written objections and comments. Upon consideration of the comments and deliberation on the objections, the URA submitted the Project to SDEV for consideration on 20 October 2020 in accordance with the URAO. SDEV has duly considered the URA’s submission, the unwithdrawn objections, URA’s deliberations on the objec
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8 Feb 2021
URA awards operation contract for Central Market
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announces today (8 February) that the URA Board has approved the tender award to Noble Vantage Ltd., a member company of Chinachem Group, as the main operator of the Central Market Revitalisation Project (the Project) for a period of 10 years. The URA will sign the operation contract and agreement for lease with Noble Vantage Ltd., and it is expected that the first phase of operation of the Project will commence in the 3rd quarter of 2021. As announced in the 2009 Policy Address, the URA was tasked to revitalise the former Central Market building to provide a green public open space for diversified uses for public enjoyment. A Community Advisory Committee was set up to conduct an extensive public engagement exercise from 2009 to 2011 to collect views
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30 Dec 2020
URA offers services to facilitate redevelopment of sites held by Non-governmental Organisations for multiple uses
In response to the 2019 Policy Address announced by the Chief Executive on the initiatives to identify land to increase housing supply, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announces today (30 December) that a facilitation scheme (the Scheme) will be launched on 1 January 2021 to facilitate non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to optimise their under-utilised sites. Through redevelopment, the URA will assist the NGOs to maximize the development potential of their existing sites by introducing mixed residential, commercial and community uses, while at the same time modernising the NGO facilities. The Scheme will be implemented by the Urban Redevelopment Facilitating Services Company Limited (URFS), a URA subsidiary, to provide services to facilitate redevelopment in two stages. The fi
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11 Dec 2020
URA to vet eligibility of applications for “Starter Homes” Pilot Project following assignment of priority numbers
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (11 December) conducted a random assignment of priority numbers (random assignment) for all the 4,909 applications for the 43 remaining “Starter Homes” units (SH) in its eResidence project. Officiated by URA Managing Director Ir Wai Chi-sing, the entire proceedings of the random assignment was witnessed by Mr Libra Fung of Lui & Mak Certified Public Accountants and video-taped for record. A ten-digit seed number, formed by the ten numbers drawn by Ir Wai, was input into a computer programme to randomly assign a priority number to each of the applicants. The arrangement of the seed number can enhance the randomness of the prioritisation calculated by the mathematical formulae of the computer programme, while allowing the accountant to verify th
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10 Dec 2020
URA to conduct random assignment of priority numbers for 43 “Starter Homes” units in eResidence
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will conduct a random assignment of priority numbers (random assignment) tomorrow (11 December) for the 4,909 applications for the 43 remaining “Starter Homes” units in its eResidence project. A computer programme, comprised of a set of mathematical formulae verified by an independent auditor to randomly assign a priority number to each of the applicants, has been devised for tomorrow’s exercise. The entire proceedings of random assignment will be witnessed by a professional independent accountant and video-taped for record. Upon completion of the random assignment, the list of assigned priority numbers and the video will be uploaded to the eResidence’s website (www.eresidence.hk) later on the same day. Applicants can check their assigned priority
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1 Dec 2020
Temporary closure of URA facilities
In view of the Government’s latest measures in response to the COVID-19 epidemic situation, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announces today (1 December) that its public facilities will be temporarily closed, starting from tomorrow (2 December). All educational activities and docent services will also be temporarily suspended until further notice. Facilities to be temporarily closed include the Urban Renewal Exploration Centre, SPORTS EXPO, as well as the community spaces, exhibition areas and multi-purpose rooms of H6 CONET, 7 Mallory Street and 618 Shanghai Street. All the entrances and exits of H6 CONET will remain open to facilitate public access to the six adjacent streets during the closure period. While the Urban Renewal Resource Centre will remain open during office hou
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25 Nov 2020
Responses by URA to the 2020 Policy Address
In response to the announcement made by the Chief Executive in the 2020 Policy Address today (Wednesday) on the new initiatives to increase housing and build a liveable city, a spokesman of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) said the URA welcomes the Government’s new initiatives and will render its support to them. The URA makes the following remarks responding to the ongoing and new initiatives as mentioned in the Policy Address and Supplement: Redevelopment of Tai Hang Sai Estate in Shek Kip Mei The URA welcomes the support from Government to the redevelopment of Tai Hang Sai Estate (THSE), aiming to improve the living conditions of the residents, while at the same time maximise the development potential of the existing land to increase housing supply. The URA and the Hong Kong
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24 Nov 2020
Positive response with over 4,906 applications received for 43 “Starter Homes” units at URA’s eResidence
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) receives more than 4,906 applications for its 43 remaining units in eResidence which are designated as “Starter Homes” (SH) units upon the close of application submission at 7pm on 23 November 2020. Since the commencement of applications for the 43 SH units on 10 November 2020, more than 410 visitors have viewed the on-site show flats, while the enquiry service hotline has received over 1,320 enquiries on information including eligibility criteria, sales arrangement and show-flat appointment. The show flats will remain open for viewing until 21 December 2020 for those applicants who have submitted their applications. Those applicants who are interested to view the show flats are requested to make appointments via the online booking system (www.eres
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20 Nov 2020
URA welcomes appointments to the Board
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (20 November 2020) welcomes the Government’s appointment/reappointment of four non-executive directors (non-official) of the URA Board, for a term of three years with effect from 1 December 2020. The three new non-official non-executive directors are Mr William Chan Fu-keung, Mr Kwok Wai-keung and Mr Tony Tse Wai-chuen, whereas Mr Evan Au Yang Chi-chun is re-appointed as non-official non-executive director. “The members of the Board come from a wide spectrum of professions and sectors in the community with extensive experience and expertise. Their involvement will support the URA in fulfilling the important mission of taking forward urban renewal in Hong Kong. On behalf of the URA Board, I would like to extend our warmest welcome to the th