The Public Works Bureau (DSOP) said in a statement yesterday that construction of the government’s first sandwich-class public housing high-rise, to be located on a plot in Iao Hon district which is currently used as a temporary sitting-out area, will get off the ground soon.
The statement pointed out that four dilapidated residential buildings on the plot were demolished in 2009, after which a temporary low-rise building was constructed on a part of the area and used as the office of a now-defunct consultative committee on revitalising the city’s old quarters. The office was demolished a few years ago, after which the plot was converted into the current sitting-out area in 2021 slated to be used on a temporary basis.
Yesterday’s statement came after the government announced in early August that it will build its first sandwich-class public housing high-rise on the plot.
According to the DSOP website, the plot, located at the corner of Rua Oito do Bairro Iao Hon (祐漢新村第八街) and Avenida da Longevidade (長壽大馬路), covers 1,875 square metres, where a 30-storey tower will be constructed, plus a three-level underground public carpark.
The building will provide about 250 flats, with its underground carpark to comprise about 100 parking spaces for cars and motorcycles. The building will also include commercial and community facilities.
The sandwich-class housing project will be carried out through two separate tenders – a tender for its pile foundation and basement, and a tender for its superstructure. Yesterday’s DSOP statement said that the project’s pile foundation and basement work will start soon.
The bureau launched a tender by invitation only earlier this year when it asked five construction companies to bid for the project’s pile foundation and basement work, after which all five companies submitted their respective bids, which were unsealed by DSOP officials on July 31.
The quotations proposed by the five bidders ranged from 119.0 million to 183.8 million patacas.
According to the DSOP website, the project’s pile foundation and basement work will be carried out by San Kei Ip Decoration Company Limited, which provided the lowest bid of 119.0 million patacas.
The company will now be required to complete the building’s pile foundation and basement within 600 working days.
Government-built sandwich-class housing projects aim to provide affordable flats for local residents who are not eligible to buy a flat under the government’s subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) but cannot afford to buy a flat in the private sector either.
A new law regulating the government’s sandwich-class housing programme came into force on April 1 this year.
Yesterday’s DSOP statement said that with the government-owned Macau Urban Renewal Limited (MUR) still pushing forward its Iao Hon Estate urban renewal project to redevelop seven dilapidated residential estates comprising low-rise buildings in Iao Hon district into high-rise buildings with 30 floors each, the government’s first sandwich-class public housing high-rise to be built on the plot, located near the dilapidated Iao Hon Estate, will become the city’s first urban-redevelopment example project.
The statement noted that the sandwich-class high-rise’s design is similar to MUR’s Iao Hon Estate urban renewal project’s future redeveloped buildings.
The statement also underlined that in the vicinity there are several other sitting-out areas and public parks so that residents can use them after the temporary sitting-out area is closed for the sandwich-class housing project.
The government announced late last year its decision to suspend its sandwich-class housing project on a plot at the bottom of Big Taipa Hill in Avenida Wai Long, i.e., the plot of the ill-fated La Scala luxury housing project near the airport, before finally deciding whether it will resume it in the future.
This handout photo released by the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) yesterday shows its officials during an on-site inspection of the temporary sitting-out area in Iao Hon district where the government’s first sandwich-class public housing high-rise will be built.
