Press Releases
Year 2005
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26 Jun 2005
Visit by Shanghai Institute of Architects to URA
Available in Chinese verison only
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13 Jun 2005
Invitation to Tender for First Street/Second Street Project
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Monday) invited a total of 14 property developers to tender for the joint development of the First Street/Second Street project in Sai Ying Pun. The project covers a site area of about 38,000 square feet and upon completion, is expected to deliver a gross floor area of about 425,000 square feet for residential and commercial use. In addition, an 11,800-square foot residential care home for the elderly and about 7,500 square feet of landscaped open space will be provided. Following the expression of interest exercise which closed on 27 May, a tender review panel under the URA Board decided to invite 14 interested parties for tender, after taking into consideration their experience and financial strength to undertake the development in accordance
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30 May 2005
Community starts work on URA revitalisation project
A newly formed committee between the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and the Wan Chai local community starts work today (Monday) on planning a $100 million revitalisation project in fostering Hong Kong's creative and cultural industries. Subject to the Town Planning Board's approval, the URA intends to preserve a row of six pre-war "shop-houses" in Mallory Street, Wan Chai and refurbish them as a haven for various operators in creative and cultural industries. "This is such a new and unprecedented attempt that we think it very important to widely consult the local community as well as the prospective operators before we decide on the mix of industries, architecture design and mode of self-supporting operational management," said Ms Maria Tam, URA Board member and Chairperson of the URA'
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27 May 2005
Expression of Interest for URA's First Street/Second Street Project
In response to media enquiries on the result of the expression of interest exercise for the First Street/Second Street joint development project in Sai Ying Pun, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Friday) issued the following statement: A total of 20 submissions have been received expressing an interest in the joint development of the First Street/Second Street project site. A tender review panel under the URA Board will shortlist the qualified parties and invite them to submit a formal tender for the development. It is expected that the tender exercise will take place in the near future. The project covers a site area of about 38,000 square feet and upon completion, is expected to deliver a gross floor area of about 425,000 square feet for residential and commercial use. In
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19 May 2005
Invitation for Expression of Interest for First Street/Second Street Project
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will invite real estate developers to submit an expression of interest (EOI) for the joint development of the First Street/Second Street redevelopment project in Sai Ying Pun tomorrow (Friday). The project covers a site area of about 38,000 square feet and upon completion, is expected to deliver a gross floor area of about 425,000 square feet for residential and commercial use. In addition, an 11,800-square foot residential care home for the elderly and about 7,500 square feet of landscaped open space will be provided. Parties interested in the project are requested to indicate their professional competence and financial capability to undertake the development in accordance with the requirements and criteria set by the Authority. Submissions should
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13 May 2005
URA updates tenant records by survey
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Friday) conducts a survey to update its records of domestic tenants in five "ex-LDC" projects, in preparation for changes arising from the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 ("The Ordinance"). The URA has commenced 19 of the 25 projects announced by its predecessor, the Land Development Corporation (LDC). Among the remaining six, five of them are residential sites with tenants, namely the Kwun Tong Town Centre, Kwun Tong; Peel Street/Graham Street, Sheung Wan; Sai Yee Street, Mongkok; Sai Wan Ho Street, Shau Kei Wan; and Nga Tsin Wai Village, Wong Tai Sin. An estimated 2,400 domestic households are involved. The sixth is the MacPherson Stadium, Mongkok that has no domestic tenants. The main purpose of the survey is t
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2 May 2005
Social Service Teams to Help Residents in Urban Renewal
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has appointed the Salvation Army and St James' Settlement for the setting up of two urban renewal social service teams to provide assistance for residents affected by urban renewal projects in Kowloon West and on Hong Kong Island respectively from May 2005. "Social service teams play a very important part in our people-oriented approach during the implementation of urban renewal projects," said Mr. Maurice Lee, Chairman of the URA's Community Affairs and Public Relations Committee that scrutinized and approved the appointment of the two teams. "The redevelopment of an old residential area inevitably causes changes to the everyday life of the residents affected. Some of them, in particular the elderly, the handicapped, single parents and new immigrants
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22 Apr 2005
URA Welcomes New Appointments to the Board
The Chairman of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), Mr Edward Cheng Wai-sun, today (Friday) welcomes the appointment of the Hon Alan Leong Kah-kit and the Hon Howard Young as non-executive directors of the URA Board. "With their profound expertise and experience, Mr Leong and Mr Young will certainly be able to make significant contributions to the work of the URA in fulfilling its mission of achieving a sustainable urban renewal programme - one that will not only improve the livelihood of residents living in the old districts but also provide a continuous driving force for Hong Kong's economic development," Mr Cheng said. "We look forward to working closely together as a team with our stakeholders in the community in taking forward our initiatives to achieve our goal," he added. Mr Chen
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18 Mar 2005
URA launches $100m project for cultural and creative industries
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announces today (Friday) a $100 million project, the Mallory Street revitalisation project, to help foster Hong Kong's development of cultural and creative industries. The project calls for the acquisition of two rows of 10 early twentieth century shop-houses in Mallory Street and Burrows Street, Wan Chai. Upon completion of the planning and acquisition procedures, the URA will refurbish some of the buildings and turn them into a haven for operators of cultural and creative industries. The URA project is inspired by the Government's Policy Address in January which highlights the "the importance of rejuvenating old districts in cities to create a cultural atmosphere, thereby attracting talents, fostering cultural and creative industries and developing
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15 Mar 2005
URA issues acquisition offers for two Tai Kok Tsui projects
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Tuesday) issued offer letters to owners of 370 property interests in Tai Kok Tsui to acquire their properties within the boundaries of the Larch Street/Fir Street and Pine Street/Anchor Street redevelopment projects. The total acquisition and rehousing cost is estimated to be about $1.13 billion. Affected owner-occupiers of domestic properties will be offered $4,038 per square foot on a saleable area basis. Built in the 60's, most of the properties are in a dilapidated condition. As a whole, their open market value is estimated to be about $1,300 per square foot of saleable area. The URA acquires property interests by private agreements with individual owners. The acquisition offers are based on the Government's Home Purchase Allowance (HPA) po