Hong Kong approves land grants to beleaguered Urban Renewal Authority in rare move
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 in order 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.
'Granting land at a nominal land premium has long been one of the major government support measures for the URA … Granting the two sites to the URA is along the same direction that helps the URA to fulfil its urban renewal mission.'
The land grant includes several conditions. The URA must collaborate with the government to refine its operating and financing model, enabling it to undertake urban redevelopment in a financially sustainable manner, 'irrespective of market ups and downs'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Ex-chairman of Hong Kong-listed Neo-China surrenders after 13 years on the run
A former top executive of a Hong Kong-listed company surrendered to the city's anti-corruption agency on Tuesday after more than a decade on the run. Advertisement Li Songxiao, the former chairman of Neo-China Group (Holdings), now known as Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group (SIUD), handed himself over to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) over his involvement in fraudulent property deals worth more than HK$330 million (US$42 million). Li had allegedly conspired with two then senior executives, Che Hanshu and Zhang Yaohui, to defraud shareholders and the Hong Kong stock exchange, by inflating the profit and assets of the developers through fraudulent transactions, according to a statement from ICAC. Warrants for the trio were issued in February 2011 by a magistrate, but by that time they had already left Hong Kong, ICAC said. Li, Che and Zhang had conspired with the company's secretary and financial controller to defraud shareholders between November 2003 and July 2007, it added. Li, 59, faces two common law charges of conspiracy to defraud. He is scheduled to appear at Eastern Magistrates' Courts for a mention hearing on Wednesday. Advertisement The charges centre on two property deals in which Neo-China allegedly misled investors – one involving the HK$210 million purchase of Top Fair, and another concerning the HK$123 million sale of its subsidiary, Noble Time Development, to Northwest Link.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Law Society swoops down on entire floor of offices at The Center at half price
The Law Society of Hong Kong has bought an entire floor of offices in what was formerly the world's most expensive tower at a 50 per cent discount, the latest among astute investors who are picking up property in the city at bargain prices. Advertisement The Law Society paid HK$345 million (US$44 million), or HK$14,000 per sq ft, for 24,980 sq ft (2,320 square metres) on the 26th floor of The Center from Gale Well Group. The property in the Central district was handed over to the Law Society on July 25, according to the Land Registry. The purchase price was half of the HK$693 million that Gale Well paid in 2021, when its founder and CEO Jacinto Tong Man-leung bought the property from the late Ma Ah-muk. Ma, dubbed Hong Kong's Minibus King, passed away in March last year. The Law Society is still gathering views from its members for the design of the office floor and has not decided on the date for moving in, a member said. An interview with property investment firm Gale Well Group's vice chairman and CEO Jacinto Tong Man-leung on February 25, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Wong The Center, a 73-storey office tower, was sold in 2018 for a record HK$40.2 billion (US$5.2 billion) by the city's wealthiest man, Li Ka-shing, to a group of 10 local tycoons in what was then the world's priciest property deal. Not long after the transaction, Hong Kong's economy was driven into a slump by six months of anti-government protests and three years of the Covid-19 pandemic. Advertisement
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong audit watchdog warns of quality risks amid undercutting and tight deadlines
The head of Hong Kong's auditing watchdog has raised concerns that some auditors are accepting jobs from listed companies at cheaper rates and too close to reporting deadlines, warning that this could affect the quality of their work. The Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) said that 17 per cent of the 2,631 Hong Kong-listed companies changed auditors last year. The AFRC also said that it had randomly checked the work of 16 auditing firms that were replaced. The regulator found that of these 16 firms, 13 had received lower fees compared with the previous auditors, while 12 had quality issues and urged them to make improvements. 'Many of these audits were conducted under tight timelines due to late changes in auditor appointments, close to the reporting deadline,' said CEO Janey Lai Chui-pik at a media briefing on the annual audit quality review on Tuesday. 'These practices threaten both the independence of auditors and the quality of audits.' Accounting and Financial Reporting Council chairman David Sun and CEO Janey Lai at the regulator's office at Two Taikoo Place. Photo: Enoch Yiu One of the main reasons listed companies changed auditors was cheaper auditing fees, as existing auditors refused to give discounts. 'After the two sides have lengthy discussions and still cannot reach an agreement on cheaper auditing fees, a listed company usually finds a cheaper auditor just one or two months before the auditing deadline,' she said. 'In one case, a company changed its auditor three times in a year.'
