Pop-up Hong Kong shopping mall near border with mainland China would run for three years
A proposed pop-up shopping complex near the border with Shenzhen would operate for just three years before making way for a permanent mall, it emerged yesterday.
The scheme was revealed in separate applications to the Town Planning Board from the non-profit body that would run the temporary mall and the landlord for the change of use of the former car park site in San Tin, northwestern New Territories.
The mall has been touted as a way to relieve pressure on towns in the northern New Territories, which are coping with a massive influx of mainland shoppers and traders buying goods for resale over the border. The idea was announced last year and gained traction amid rowdy protests against so-called parallel traders earlier this year. The Shenzhen government has since tried to address the problem by limiting cross-border visits by residents.
The man behind the scheme is lawmaker Wong Ting-kwong, who represents the import and export sector. He has secured land co-owned by property giants Henderson and Sun Hung Kai.
A group calling itself Non-profit Making Shopping Centre Foundation, set up to run the project, has applied to convert a 39,722 square metre area into temporary shopping facilities for three years.
A parallel application by Topcycle Development, a joint venture of the two landlords, has applied to build a permanent mall on a 39,705 square metre site with slightly different boundaries.
“They [the two companies] had the permanent shopping mall plan all along but they said it would usually take about three years before work could actually start. So we entered into this agreement,” said Wong, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. “They will allow us to use the site for HK$1 rent for three years so that we can use the place as a temporary outlet.”
Despite a recent fall in the number of mainland travellers, Wong maintained that the border mall would be of use. “It is not only for mainlanders. Hongkongers can also enjoy this new model of shopping.”
The foundation’s application says the mall will be put together quickly as it will consist of prefabricated buildings or converted shipping containers. Wong once suggested it could open by October, then by Christmas, but the application cites no timescale.
Half of the 208 shops would be designated to sell products either designed or manufactured in Hong Kong.
