Housing Authority’s Commercial Properties Committee Members visit shopping centres (with photos)

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:

     Members of the Hong Kong Housing Authority's (HA) Commercial Properties Committee today (May 11) visited three HA shopping centres to better understand their business conditions.
 
     Members firstly visited the Pok Hong Shopping Centre at Sha Tin. The shopping centre was opened in 1982, with a retail area of about 3 300 square metres. Members were briefed on the improvement works completed last year. The restaurant at Pok Hong Shopping Centre was re-designed and the space released was converted into six shops, providing the residents with more retail services. Moreover, new entrances, a corridor and a barrier-free lift platform were added, which improved the circulation of the shopping centre. The improvement works also included refurbishment of the toilets and renovation of the external walls of the shopping centre, the multi-storey carpark building and advertising panels, giving the shopping centre a new appearance.
 
     Members then visited Kwai Shing West Shopping Centre in Kwai Chung. The three-storey shopping centre was opened in 1975 and has a total lettable area of about 4 500 square metres. Improvement works were also completed last year to enhance the business environment of the shopping centre. The improvement works included construction of a new lift tower connecting the ground floor, first floor and the podium on the second floor; renovation of market stalls, with some of them converted into a Chinese restaurant and storerooms; addition of new shops; floor re-tiling of the shopping centre and the market; renovation of the external walls and signboard of the shopping centre; and installation of glazed covers at podium level.
 
     To conclude the tour, Members visited Ching Long Shopping Centre at the new Kai Tak development area in Kowloon City. The shopping centre was completed in mid-2013 and has a total lettable area of about 9 200 square metres, comprising shops of various trades and a single operator market. It has adopted a "roadside shops" layout with natural ventilation for the corridors, offering the residents of Kai Ching Estate and Tak Long Estate diverse retail services and restaurants.

     Visits to the HA's commercial facilities have been organised from time to time by the Housing Department for members of Commercial Properties Committee to enable them to gain first-hand knowledge of the operation of the HA's commercial facilities.