Some of the city's oldest restaurants opened for business yesterday in century-old Wan Chai tenements, taking advantage of below-market rents in buildings that have been renovated as a home for comic artists.
Their rents will help offset maintenance and operation costs for the Urban Renewal Authority in the HK$200 million preservation of the tenements, popularly known as the Green House.
"The rent is at least 50 per cent lower than the market rate. I don't need to worry about recovering costs now. I can do the business any way I want," said Ho Cheuk-man, owner of Ho Wah cha chaan teng, as the project opened yesterday.
Tenants get lower rents in return for higher renovation costs resulting from conservation requirements in the refurbished buildings.
But it creates a challenge for the authority in covering its own costs - which it declines to disclose - as most of the comic exhibitions that are the project's main focus are free.
Ho, the second-generation operator of Ho Wah, said his uncle opened a tea stall in front of the grade-two historic tenements 60 years ago. The stall was closed down by the government and later moved into a shop next to the tenements, selling local tea and sandwiches favoured by some film stars. That shop remains and he has opened a new one in the tenement.
Another tenant is the Western-style Queen's Cafe.
