Historic shops: Peel and Graham Streets in Central will be revamped to create Hong Kong's first "old shop street" resembling historic open markets.

Peel and Graham Streets in Central will be revamped to create Hong Kong's first "old shop street" resembling historic open markets.

The $3.8-billion Urban Renewal Authority project is bounded by Peel, Graham, Gage, Wellington, Cochrane, Gutzlaff, and Staveley Streets and Kin Sau Lane.

About 360 property interests in 37 old buildings will be affected, with four pre-war built and the rest from the mid-50s and early 60s. About 470 households involving 1,120 people reside in the site area.

Unique design

The authority's Planning & Design Director Michael Ma said the area will feature a multi-purpose community hall and quality open space. As the district is full of interesting historical and cultural elements, Mr Ma said one of the unique design elements is to create Graham Street as Hong Kong's first "old shop street" where old specialty shops will do business.

"The entrance of the old shop street will be located at the present Wing Woo Grocery whose facade will be preserved, subject to a structural feasibility study. At the other end are the three pre-war shop houses at 26A-26C Graham Street which likewise will be preserved and put to adaptive re-use. The rest are three-storey structures to be built for the specialty old shops. The design of these structures will be based on that of traditional shop houses in Hong Kong," he said.

Open market preserved

The project's another unique feature is the conservation of one of the earliest open markets in Hong Kong, where hawkers still operate.

"Although strictly speaking they fall outside the project boundaries, we fully encourage these hawkers to continue with their activities upon completion of the project. Indeed we have been in close touch for months with the Government departments concerned and hawker representatives. We hope to put in place the best possible mutually-acceptable arrangements, be they interim or permanent.

"We will take into consideration the views and needs of hawkers in our design for the future stalls so as to give added emphasis to the original district feature."

Survey underway

The authority started a three-day survey today to ascertain the exact number of people affected and the occupancy status of the properties involved. Depending on the work progress, the authority intends to issue purchase offers to the owners for acquiring the 360 affected property interests in about three months.

Upon completion of the property acquisition exercise, the authority will make compensation or re-housing arrangements for the tenants concerned. The estimated cost of cash compensation and re-housing is about $1.8 billion.