The six development directions of the activation of the industrial building 2.0
In 2010, the Government launched the Revitalization of Industrial Buildings project, completing 129 applications in 6 years, accounting for about 8% of the total number of industrial buildings, providing more than 2.1 million square meters of floor space. The activation conditions limit the application of industrial buildings that have been unified. At present, most of the industrial buildings with decentralized titles are not exempted from land premiums.
The Chief Executive announced in the Policy Address of 2018 that the revitalisation of the Industrial Building Scheme was announced. The Development Bureau submitted the documents to the Legislative Council at the end of last year and referred to the six measures included in the new Revitalisation Building Scheme. They are the definition of the whole building, the reconstruction, reconstruction and conversion for transitional housing, the permission of the unit for culture and art, creativity and innovative technology, and the widening of the permitted use and warehouse of the buffer floor in the industrial building.
Government provides one-stop support
When the Chief Executive announced the housing policy in June last year, he first introduced the proposal to revitalize the industrial building into a transitional housing. The Task Force, chaired by the Transport Bureau, provides one-stop support to help non-profit-making organisations to help the grassroots who have not yet been allocated public housing to provide suitable temporary accommodation. The Government will flexibly handle the planning and building design requirements and will be exempt from the fee for the waiver. The Buildings Department issued a circular to the industry in August last year to consider exempting certain residential flats from covering areas, plot ratios, natural ventilation and lighting requirements through the revitalisation scheme, provided that the social enterprises are committed to proper management and Implement additional compensation measures such as fire safety.
In addition, the whole building is converted into commercial, commercial and industrial sites and industrial buildings of 15 years or above. Since the Town Planning Board has permitted non-industrial use, the Lands Department will operate for three years starting from 2019. The same conditions as for the Revitalisation Scheme are exempt from the cost of the whole land modification and change of land lease waiver; an additional condition is required to require the owner to reserve 10% of the converted gross floor for specific uses, including the promotion of arts and culture, creativity and Innovative technology industries, etc., the owners negotiate with the tenants about the rent and lease terms.
If the whole building was built before 1987, the plot ratio could be relaxed by up to 20% because the fire protection installations of the industrial buildings before 1987 failed to meet the current standards. The redevelopment plan will first be approved by the Town Planning Board to provide technical assessments such as traffic and environmental reports to demonstrate the integration of the development and the district. The application must be submitted to the Town Planning Board within three years from the end of 2018. Within 3 years after the approval of the regulations, the relevant land leases will be revised and the full land price will be paid.
The existing industrial site restrictions can only be used for industrial and warehouse purposes. Although the OZP is used in the first column, it is not allowed for additional planning applications. Limitations of use, non-industrial or warehouse use is a breach of contract.
The Government hopes to make good use of industrial buildings to support the development of some emerging industries, including culture and art, creativity and innovation and technology. The Government will allow three types of uses in individual units of industrial buildings, provided that the use is in the first column of OZP’s permitted use and that the exempted use does not attract outsiders and poses a potential fire safety hazard.
Class 3 non-industrial permitted operations, including art studios, audio and video recording, design media production, creative industry offices and research institutes, design and development centers.
All departments must work together
The Lands Department and the Development Bureau issued guidelines this year to broaden the permitted uses and warehouse definitions of buffer floors in industrial buildings. At present, if industrial buildings have buffer floors, such as electromechanical rooms or vacant floors, they can completely separate the industrial use parts of the lower and upper floors. When the fee waiver and the plan are met, the minimum three floors of the industrial building can be allowed to be converted into other non-industrial uses, including shops and service industries, restaurants and so on.
The Lands Department further permits partial modifications of the buffer floor to the centre of the telecommunications machine and the computer/data processing centre, provided that it meets the fire safety requirements. The Lands Department has further relaxed the definition of the use of warehouses in industrial closures, covering the use of cargo handling and cargo facilities and recycling centres for recyclable materials.
The six major directions for the activation of the Industrial Building 2.0 are that the Government hopes to release the potential of the industrial building. Apart from the reconstruction or alteration of the entire building, it is allowed to partially renovate the industrial building in compliance with fire protection requirements. However, for the owners, the commercial building is considered to be activated. The incentives are not honoured. The last round of activation could turn the industrial units into office or hotel use. Now, as temporary transitional houses, there is no economic incentive to relax the work of culture, art, creativity and innovation in the industrial buildings. It is only legalizing the operation that has always existed in the industrial building, but it has only a three-year deadline. There is no long-term arrangement for the treatment after the deadline.
In addition, the additional clause of the new round of activation is that it is difficult for the owner to find a qualified tenant in the cultural arts or creative category. If you want to relax the 20% plot ratio, you need to complete the city plan and complete the revised land lease within 3 years. All government departments must work together to complete the work in a limited time. When the owner has already put resources to complete the approval of the city regulations, if the contract cannot be completed within the time limit, it will suffer economic losses. The above is only the outline of the new round of revitalization plan, detailed implementation methods, and the guidelines and norms issued by various government departments this year.