The Urban Renewal Authority was criticised for buying low and selling high yesterday in a legislative meeting in which the authority disclosed to lawmakers details of its surplus on completed projects.
Financial records opened up by the authority show that it made a net profit of HK$2 billion from eight completed projects in the past five years, six of which were started by the authority's predecessor, the Land Development Corporation.
The surplus from one project was 42 times the redevelopment cost. That was Queen's Terrace in Sheung Wan, from which the authority gained HK$560 million.
In the development panel meeting yesterday, lawmaker Kam Nai-wai queried the project, in which the authority bought old buildings at a low price and sold new ones with luxurious elements at a high price.
He said Island Crest, in First Street, Sheung Wan, recently sold at HK$12,000 per sq ft, but the authority acquired the old buildings for about HK$3,100 per sq ft in 2003.
Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor replied that the property market was unpredictable and that the buildings in First Street were acquired when the city was threatened by severe acute respiratory syndrome. 'It would be simplifying the situation if you just compared the two figures,' she said.
