Statutory body receives Hung Hom and Tseung Kwan O sites to support redevelopment projects, with a condition to review its financing model
The Hong Kong government has granted two parcels of urban land to the cash-strapped Urban Renewal Authority in a rare move to offer additional financial support for its redevelopment projects, with a condition to review its financing model to ensure sustainability.
The sites in Hung Hom and Tseung Kwan O were approved by the government’s top decision-making body in principle on Friday, at a nominal premium of HK$1,000 (US$127) for 50 years.
The two sites will have to be rezoned for residential use for the self-financing statutory authority to “continue to take forward its commenced redevelopment projects in an orderly manner”.
“Redevelopment projects of a larger scale involve huge acquisition costs. Coupled with the sluggish property market in recent years, the URA’s projects have been subject to the ‘buy-high-sell-low’ situation, thus affecting its cash flow,” Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said in the government announcement.
