Massive redevelopment project in Hong Kong a step closer as authority agrees HK$100 million pay-off with town’s illegal store holders

Urban Renewal Authority had given business operators occupying land in Kwun Tong illegally until this week to accept special compensation deal

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Shoppers walk past illegal stores in Yue Man Square in Kwun Tong. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 7:39pm, 9 Oct 2018Updated: 10:52pm, 9 Oct 2018

A long-awaited redevelopment project in Hong Kong’s most densely populated district saw signs of progress on Tuesday, after shopkeepers illegally operating stalls in the area accepted a special compensation offer to move out.

Of the 106 affected business owners operating 74 unauthorised stalls in Kwun Tong, 91 have taken the one-off payment from the Urban Renewal Authority to leave their premises by the end of February to make way for the final phase of the Kwun Tong town centre redevelopment project.

Store holders in Kwun Tong have been offered special compensation to leave the area. Photo: Sam Tsang

The authority had given owners or tenants until Monday to either accept or reject a compensation offer, which could cost the authority HK$100 million (US$12.8 million).

The authority will ask the secretary for development “to initiate land resumption procedures in the middle of next year”, the URA said in a statement on Tuesday.

Some 110 shopkeepers, tenants and residents illegally occupied either government or private land in the 1960s and 1970s along a building strip near Yue Man Square and Kwun Tong Road.