The government has approved a mixed residential and commercial property project to be developed within four years, making it one of the very few approved cases under the revitalisation scheme for industrial buildings implemented since 2011. According to the Official Gazette published yesterday, a site of 2,774 square metres on Rua dos Pescadores in Areia Preta is approved to be developed into a mixed residential and commercial property project. Of the project site, 32,136 square metres are designated for residences, with another 2,983 square metres to be developed into commercial premises. The site, which is now vacant following the demolition of an industrial building, is to comprise two towers of 35 floors (four of which are basements) with supporting social facilities, including a swimming pool, according to the Gazette. The mixed property project is one of the very few successful land use change cases and was applied for by local company Everbuild International Ltd. under the revitalisation scheme for industrial buildings. The special scheme, launched in April 2011, requires 70 per cent of the flats in the converted industrial premises to be small (i.e.) not more than 60 square metres (646 square feet). It also says the combined gross floor area of the small flats must represent at least half of the total gross floor area of the conversion project. The scheme was conceived by the government as a means of boosting the supply of private mid and small-sized flats. The former director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau, Jaime Roberto Carion, said that the legal requirement of gaining unanimous approval from owners for industrial units conversion is the major reason for the few applications, which stood at only 14 cases as at November last year. By then, only two of the 14 cases had been approved for their draft construction plans. Everbuild International, which applied for the approval of the project in 2013, must now pay a premium of MOP63.76 million (US$7.99 million) to the government for the new land use. The land lease for the site is valid until November 11, 2022, according to the Official Gazette.
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