Press Releases
Year 2007
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2 May 2007
Heritage Advisory Panel on Peel Street/Graham Street project
A heritage advisory panel newly set up under the Central & Western District Advisory Committee (C&W DAC) of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) met today (Wednesday) to study and recommend ways to promote heritage conservation features in the Peel Street/Graham Street redevelopment project. The URA intends to preserve three pre-war shop houses at 26A-26C Graham Street for adaptive re-use as well as the façade of Wing Woo Grocery within the project site, where structurally feasible. "We attach a great deal of importance to this $3.8 billion project which is sited at a bustling location full of interesting historical features. Over the past two years, a bottom-up approach has been adopted to solicit community views on the way forward for the project. A Master Layout Plan for the project
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24 Apr 2007
Statement by the Urban Renewal Authority: Newly Appointed URA Board
The management of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) welcomes the new appointments announced by government today (Tuesday) to the URA Board, effective 1 May 2007. "The management looks forward to the leadership and guidance of Mr. Barry Cheung, the newly appointed Chairman, and the newly constituted Board in carrying out its mission under the Urban Renewal Strategy," said a spokesman for the URA. The management wishes also to express its sincere gratitude to the current Board, especially its Chairman, Mr. Edward Cheng who has made invaluable contribution to the work of the URA. "Without their guidance and support over the past three years, it would not have been possible for URA to successfully engage the community in the planning of a number of key projects, or to launch the Kwun Tong T
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24 Apr 2007
Press Statement by the newly appointed Chairmen of the URA Board, Mr Barry Cheung
The following is a statement issued today (Tueday) on behalf of the newly appointed Chairman of the URA Board, Mr Barry Cheung: "I am deeply honoured to be appointed Chairman of the Board of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. URA has just completed its first Five Year Corporate Plan. Following the commencement of the Kwun Tong Town Centre Redevelopment Project, the largest single project it has ever undertaken, URA is proudly progressing towards another major milestone of its work. I wish to thank the current Chairman, Mr. Edward Cheng, under whose distinguished leadership the URA has made remarkable achievements under its "4R" strategy: redevelopment, rehabilitation, revitalization and preservation. As we are entr
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23 Apr 2007
Kwun Tong Town Centre project : People's Choice
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has submitted the development scheme plans of the Kwun Tong Town Centre project to the Town Planning Board (TPB), signifying commencement of the statutory planning procedures for the mega project. Major design features of the project are results of an extensive consultation with the community, which include landmark features of a modernistic design, increased open space and greening, comprehensive community and commercial services as well as community-friendly features such as street and bazaar in traditional "kaifong-style". URA Board member and Chairman of the URA Kwun Tong District Advisory Committee (DAC), Professor David Lung, and the URA Managing Director, Mr Billy Lam, outlined details of the development scheme plans for the project at a press
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19 Apr 2007
Milestone for Building Rehabilitation and Best Rehab Building Award
The Chairman of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), Mr Edward Cheng, said that the URA would set aside more resources to assist owners of old buildings to carry out building inspection, as the pace of rehabilitation is expected to accelerate when Government's mandatory building inspection scheme is put in place. The URA organised a ceremony today (Thursday) to mark the completion of rehabilitation works for 200 buildings involving 20,000 domestic units under its voluntary rehabilitation schemes. The ceremony also saw the presentation of awards to the 'best rehabilitated buildings' following a widely-publicized competition. Attending the ceremony as the Guest of Honour was the Hon. Michael Suen, Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands. In addition to the Chairman, Mr. Edward Cheng, othe
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14 Apr 2007
Sham Shui Po community workshop on urban regeneration
Local leaders and residents of the Sham Shui Po community gathered at a workshop today (Saturday) putting their heads together to explore possible ways forward for urban regeneration of the district as a blueprint for all concerned. Speaking at the opening of the workshop, the Chairman of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), Mr Edward Cheng said: "this workshop was jointly organized by the Sham Shui Po District Advisory Committee (DAC) of the URA and the Sham Shui Po District Council, which is part of URA's ongoing efforts to ascertain public aspirations and views on the future blueprint of the district." "As one of the key players for the district's regeneration, URA is keen to see how it can contribute to providing some relief to issues relating to poverty and an aging population, Mr
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31 Mar 2007
URA Chairman visits Kwun Tong Project Site
The Chairman of the Urban Renewal Authority, Mr Edward Cheng, today (Saturday) visited residents affected by the largest ever project of the URA, the Kwun Tong Town Centre project. Over 200 URA staff have been deployed to conduct a freezing survey following the formal commencement of the project. Accompanied by the Managing Director of the URA, Mr Billy Lam (first from left) and the District Development Director, Mr Joseph Lee (second from left), Mr Edward Cheng (third from left) visited a family residing in a dilapidated building within the project site. Almost all URA staff have been deployed to visit families affected by the project, including juinor ones working as tea lady and office assistant. (END)
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30 Mar 2007
Kwun Tong Town Centre : URA Commences Largest Project
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Friday) announced the commencement of its biggest ever project - redevelopment of the Kwun Tong Town Centre - by conducting a freezing survey of the estimated 4,500 residents who will now have the long-awaited opportunity to improve their living standard through compensation and rehousing. The Kwun Tong town centre which occupies a site area of over 5.3 hectares, was built in the early 1960s and badly needs redevelopment. Local residents suffering from leaking roofs and walls, poor hygiene, clogged sewage and everyday traffic chaos have been anxiously urging for early implementation since the project was first announced by the then Land Development Corporation in 1998. Speaking at today's media briefing to announce details of the freezing surv
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29 Mar 2007
Sun Hung Kai Properties wins URA's Larch Street/Fir Street Project
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Thursday) announced that a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited, Standtex Limited, has won the joint development contract for its Larch Street/Fir Street project in Tai Kok Tsui in a public tender exercise. The project covers a site area of about 23,570 square feet and upon completion, is expected to deliver a maximum gross floor area of about 212,160 square feet for residential and commercial use. This includes the provision of a total gross floor area of about 10,000 square feet in the future commercial block for commercial/community uses by the URA. An initial plan is to turn it into a viable location for fostering local social enterprises, so as to strengthen community network, build up social capital, better serve the
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20 Mar 2007
Press enquiry on Sai Yee Street project
市區重建局發言人今日(星期二)回應新聞界查詢有關洗衣街重建項目的推行問題時表示: 洗衣街重建項目由前土地發展公司在1998年公布,至今已經接近10年。同時,政府在成立市建局之前,在居民代表的大力游說之下,亦在2001年3月向立法會議員承諾,會建議市建局優先處理前土地發展公司遺留下來的重建項目,其中包括洗衣街項目。 市建局董事會十分理解樓上居民盼望早日重建的心情,同時亦明白地下商鋪及部分社會人士認為應該避免清拆重建的訴求。 經過深入考慮各方面的意見後,市建局認為應該依照當年土發公司和政府的承諾,以重建方式處理這個項目。油尖旺區議會亦大力支持以重建方式,處理洗衣街項目。 不過在重建的大前提下,市建局亦認為,該項目必須保存地方特色和目前的經濟活動,盡量減少對受影響人士所引起的不便,不能夠忽視商鋪的憂慮和利益。市建局會持開放的態度,繼續加強與商鋪業主、自住業主、居民和有關人士溝通,探討一個可以盡量平衡各方面關注的方案。 (完)