Tender for Hong Kong youth hostel project in Kai Tak to begin by end of year
Authorities also approve fifth hostel project under subsidy scheme to convert Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon into accommodation for young people
The tendering process to turn unused Covid-19 isolation facilities in Kai Tak into a youth hostel will begin by the end of the year, a Hong Kong minister has said, while the government has approved a fifth hostel project under a subsidy scheme to boost the supply of homes for young people.
Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said on Wednesday the planned Kai Tak hostel project was set to enter the tendering process by the end of the year and would gradually come into use in 2025.
“Since the facility is quite large, we believe that through the tendering process, we can find suitable operators,” she told a radio show.
“These operators will need to consider how to make this place a genuine space for youth exchange and provide young people with opportunities for development.”
Mak added that potential operators would need to submit proposals detailing how they would use the existing space, which was built as an isolation facility during the Covid-19 pandemic but never used.
She acknowledged some modifications might be needed, but the government’s requirement was that the works must allow for gradual use of the facilities starting next year.
