As one of the highlights covered by the government’s project on the revitalisation of Macau’s old quarters in conjunction with the city’s six integrated resort (IR) operators, the Kam Pek Community Centre on Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro will be transformed into the Kam Pek Market – a culinary and cultural hub, after an open tender for 10 food stalls on the building’s ground and first floors.
The application period for bids will open tomorrow until 6 p.m. on September 6, SJM Managing Director Daisy Ho Chiu Fung said during a briefing of potential bidders for the Kam Pek Market stalls yesterday at the Grand Lisboa casino-hotel. Ho said that “with the commencement of the government’s community revitalisation programme, this landmark building [the erstwhile Kam Pek Community Centre] will also undergo a simultaneous transformation demonstrating the spirit of SJM Resorts to be innovative and progressive. The [upcoming] Kam Pek Market will continue to shoulder an important mission with its new positioning of providing global casual dining and the latest dining trends, attracting more tourists and residents alike to this area for leisure and entertainment, and expanding the consumer base of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, especially the general public, so as to enable them to experience the mutual cultural development of the city as a whole. We hope to create a favourable business environment for the commercial tenants in and around Kam Pek, and to bring benefits to the residents of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of different industries, so as to share the fruits of tourism, promote diversified development, and help Macau become a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, as well as to consolidate its position as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy”.
According to Ho, the Kam Pek Market will cover a total area of nearly 13,000 square feet (1,208 square metres) on the ground and first floors, with seating for 270, and it will open 10 of the gourmet stalls on the ground and first floors for bidding by local SMEs in the first stage, while another five gourmet stalls will be reserved for cooperation with special brands. Details regarding the dry goods and retail stalls on the second floor will be announced in the next stage, Ho said, adding that the market is estimated to start operating between mid-December and the Chinese New Year (January 29) next year.
Speaking to the media after yesterday’s briefing, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro Residents’ Mutual Aid Association President Micky Chen Meng Kei pointed out that there’s a wide gap in the economy and pedestrian flow between the upper and lower sections of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro – the city’s main thoroughfare known as “San Ma Lou” (“New Road”), adding he hoped that the opening of Kam Pek Market would be able to “radiate” the pedestrian flow to its neighbouring streets.
Casino Kam Pek (“Golden Jade”) originally opened in 1963 on Travessa do Aterro Novo next to Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro.
There is still a casino named Kam Pek – Casino Kam Pek Paradise in San Kin Yip Commercial Centre on Avenida da Amizade.
This photo taken yesterday shows the under-renovation Kam Pek Community Centre on Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro.
SJM Resorts representatives, including SJM Managing Director Daisy Ho Chiu Fung (centre), brief potential bidders about the upcoming Kam Pek Market culinary hub, at the Grand Lisboa casino-hotel yesterday. – Photos: Yuki Lei
