Gov’t sets conditions to rehabilitate city center plot, withdraws plan after committee concerns

[Photo: Renato Marques]

The Urban Planning Committee (CPU) met yesterday to discuss, among other matters, the urban conditions plan (PCU) established by the Land and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU), which aims to rehabilitate a land plot in the city center.

The plot comprises a group of parcels located between Avenida de D. João IV, Travessa da Praia Grande, and Rua do Comandante Mata e Oliveira, behind the building of the Associação Industrial de Macau, with a total area of 1,199 square meters.

The block, which consists mostly of abandoned and dilapidated buildings and units, has, for many years, had only a few commercial spaces still operating on the ground floor along Rua do Comandante Mata e Oliveira.

The DSSCU presented a new PCU for the area yesterday, replacing a previous one issued in December 2018. The bureau noted that, as the plot is located in a commercial area, its primary use would be commercial, while also allowing for tourism and entertainment uses.

Compared with the 2018 PCU, the new plan proposed several changes to the land-use conditions to better align with other buildings in the area and allow for the creation of a new pedestrian street connecting Rua do Comandante Mata e Oliveira and Travessa da Praia Grande.

While committee members acknowledged the urgent need to address the group of buildings, which have caused several issues in the past due to severe deterioration of the upper floors and their low resistance to heavy rain and typhoons, some expressed opposition to the government’s lack of options for the owners.

The most active members in requesting more information on the topic were Teng Kai On and Si Kun Hong, who, in turn, raised other possibilities for the use of the land that would not necessarily involve the construction of a 75-meter-tall building.

Teng asked, among other questions, whether the intention was not to build a high-rise building but instead to maintain the site under what is known as a Class “M” building designation (as with the old structures), and how much the urban conditions would change under such an approach.

The members said the DSSCU should consider these options in advance to avoid wasting resources, repeated revisions, and the need to revisit the same land plot for different purposes. According to information they shared, the property owner had previously proposed reusing the land to build a two-star hotel with a maximum height of less than 20.5 meters, which he reportedly said was based on market analysis and current demand.

Several committee members expressed support for the idea of building a low-rise hotel instead of a large commercial development, noting that “there are already many shops and commercial areas in the city center that have remained vacant for a long period as people now frequently opt to buy goods and products online.”

After the discussion that followed, and without reaching a clear consensus, committee president and DSSCU director Lai Weng Leong decided not to approve the proposed PCU and to take the draft back for further review.

This means that, for the time being, nothing will change regarding the old, deteriorating structures, which will remain untouched for at least some more time.

In the past, several other members also spoke against the DSSCU’s approach of assigning all land plots in the city center solely for commercial, tourism, and entertainment purposes, calling for a broader range of options that would also consider residential uses.

In response, DSSCU officials claimed that the entire area has been designated for “commercial” purposes under the Urban Master Plan and that the proposed changes were in accordance with the guidelines set out in the document.

Committee members and government representatives have disagreed on this interpretation of the guidelines provided by the Master Plan, with members arguing that these are general orientations indicating what the plots should be “mostly” used for and noting that there is no clear provision stating that a “commercial area” must contain only commercial spaces.

Taipa’s ‘Sete Tanques’ villas to be allowed to expand into ‘Class M’ buildings

A group of villas located on Estrada de Sete Tanques on the Taipa Pequena hillside has been approved for a new urban conditions plan (PCU) allowing the property to expand vertically up to 20.5 meters.

The decision was made by the Land and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU) as it revised the conditions for the land plots involved. A previous PCU issued in April 2019 did not allow such expansion.

The newly approved conditions also state that the property owner is responsible for securing the slopes within a 30-meter area around the property.

These properties, which comprise a total of 10 villas, had been at the center of controversy years ago when the then land authorities approved the construction of the “Windsor Arch” development, located directly in front of them.

As the new development was allowed to rise far higher than the Taipa Pequena Hilltop, the villas, which previously had views overlooking the Jockey Club area and Hengqin Island, became enclosed between the hill and the massive new building. This was a reason previously cited by the owner for their unused status and lack of interest from potential buyers or investors.

The new PCU enables the conversion of the villas into “Class M” buildings (low- and medium-rise buildings), allowing the construction of several residential units on different floors (up to seven floors under normal conditions).

Under the previous PCU, the maximum building height was limited to 11 meters. RM