Tony Wong in Hengqin

        The Macau New Neighbourhood (MNN) residential project in Zhuhai’s Hengqin island was inaugurated yesterday, and the project is now slated to be fully completed in August, after which home sales will start.

The MNN project, which got off the ground in 2021, is being developed by Macau Urban Renewal Limited (MUR), which is owned by the Macau government.

Its residential units are earmarked for certain eligible groups of Macau residents to purchase. The company said yesterday that the first group of buyers can expect to move into their flats before the end of this year.

The MNN project consists of 27 residential towers, the topping-out of which was completed at the end of last year. The project features commercial facilities as well as various social service and community amenities.

MUR, which was incorporated in Macau in April 2019, set up a fully-owned subsidiary, Zhuhai Hengqin Macau New Neighbourhood Development Company Limited, in Zhuhai in March 2020 to carry out the development of the MNN project.

A plaque-unveiling ceremony was held at the MNN project yesterday morning. Delivering a speech at the ceremony, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong, who heads the Executive Committee of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, said that the MNN plaque unveiling marked the “phased achievements” in the in-depth cooperation zone’s ongoing development.

The Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone’s top decision-making body is its administrative committee, which is jointly headed by Guangdong Governor Wang Weizhong and Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng.

The zone’s executive committee, which is run under the administrative committee, is the body tasked with the zone’s daily functioning and execution of tasks.

Also delivering a speech, MUR Chairman Peter Lam Kam Seng said that the MNN plaque unveiling marked a new phase in the collaborative efforts between Macau and Hengqin for projects that aim to benefit Macau residents. Lam also chairs Zhuhai Hengqin Macau New Neighbourhood Development Company Limited.

The MNN neighbourhood consists of 27 residential towers with 19 to 26 floors each. The project will provide around 4,000 units for purchase, as well as around 200 units earmarked for highly-qualified professionals for rent only.

According to the MUR website, Macau residents aged 18 or over who do not own any residential property in Zhuhai but own no more than one residential unit in Macau will be eligible to buy an MNN flat.

The site where the MNN neighbourhood is located covers a total of around 190,000 square metres. The project has a gross construction area of around 620,000 square metres.

According to the MUR website, the MNN neighbourhood is just around a six-minute drive from the Hengqin-Macau joint border checkpoint. The company expects the neighbourhood to provide housing for between 12,000 and 15,000 people. The neighbourhood will have around 4,000 car parking spaces.

The MNN neighbourhood will have a school, a health station, a service centre for senior citizens, and a family service centre.

There will be 60 shop units in the MNN commercial space, which covers around 5,000 square metres. The neighbourhood will also feature clubhouse facilities, according to the MUR website. 

2-bedroom, 3-bedroom flats

An MUR statement yesterday noted that 80 percent of the MNN residential units are two-bedroom flats, while the remaining 20 percent are three-bedroom flats. Each two-bedroom flat has a gross floor area of about 88 square metres, while each three-bedroom flat has a gross floor area of about 118 square metres.

Yesterday’s statement also said that there are seven or eight flats on each floor. Each residential tower is equipped with two passenger lifts and a goods-passenger lift.

The statement said that the MNN project has now entered its final survey inspection and formal acceptance stage, adding that greenery works, the towers’ external-wall cladding and road works are currently being carried out there. The statement said that the project’s final inspection and formal acceptance is now expected to be completed in August.

After yesterday’s plaque-unveiling ceremony, MUR arranged for media workers to visit the MNN project’s show flats, which are located on the fourth floor of one of the towers.

Speaking to reporters after yesterday’s ceremony, Chan Ion Kei, the MNN project chief, underlined that the flats will be sold at an average price of 30,000 yuan per square metre.

Chan underlined that home sales will start a few weeks before the end of this year, adding that the first group of buyers can expect to move into their flats by the end of this year.

Chan said that if the number of Macau residents who apply to buy the MNN flats exceeds the number of the available flats, a lucky draw will be held. For the lucky draw, according to Chan, priority will be given to those who work, study or do business in the Guangdong cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Details in English about the designs and other features of the MNN flats can be checked at: https://www.gov.mo/en/news/309037/

Lam told reporters after the ceremony that the two-bedroom flats will be sold for between 2.18 million and 2.81 million yuan, while the three-bedroom flats will be sold for between 3.53 million and 4.68 million yuan, depending on different factors such as the locations and floors of the flats. 

Guests such as Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone Executive Committee Director Lei Wai Nong (fourth from left) and Macau Urban Renewal Limited (MUR) Chairman Peter Lam Kam Seng (second from right) unveil the inaugural plaque of the Macau New Neighbourhood (MNN) in Hengqin yesterday. – Photo: MUR

The two photos taken yesterday shows some of the MNN towers and a fully furnished three-bedroom show flat. – Photos: Tony Wong