The government is offering prime Colombo land at a mix of an installment cum upfront payment basis for a 99 year lease deal, a top official said.
Prime, urban waterfront land adjoining the Beira Lake at D. R. Wijewardena Mawatha, Colombo 10 will be made available for development transforming the area as a leisure and entertainment hub of Colombo.
With basic infrastructure already existing, the terms of allocation of the crown land are long-term or 99 year leases at market value. Nihal Fernando, Director-General, Urban Development Authority (UDA) said that a considerable percentage of the land value has to be paid at the time of assessing the land and the balance should be paid in continuous installments within a period fixed by the (UDA). “ The former UDA head office at D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha which has five acres will also be offered for local or foreign investors for development,” he told a representative audience at a knowledge sharing conference on the role of real property development in an emerging economy in Colombo on Thursday. "The Beira Lake would be dredged and the water would be cleaned along Vauxhall Street to ensure a clean environment," he said.
He revealed that the UDA has now expanded its activities in the provinces as well and it has completed a five-storied administrative complex in Hambantota which was opened by the President on Tuesday. The building complex, built at a cost of Rs 2.9 billion on a 72-acre land in Siribopura, Gonnoruwa will house the district’s major government institutions, department offices and the office complexes demolished for the Hambantota port construction.
When asked about details of the UDA’s plans of developing urban waterfront land adjoining the Beira Lake at D. R. Wijewardena Mawatha, a senior UDA official told the Business Times that initially they will call investors to submit expressions of interest for development projects such as a five-star hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and city hotels catering to locals as well as foreign tourists, multi-storied car parks, service/upmarket housing, convention centres and cine complexes in the land area marked for development. Furthermore, a six-to 12 metre wide Linear Park around the Beira Lake shore is to be built along with a park for leisure, children’s play area with water-based recreational opportunities similar to the Millennium Park, open air entertainment, cultural activities, and food outlets for the public are recommended within this zone.
Negotiations are underway with existing occupants along the D. R. Wijewardena Mawatha including the Excise Department, CWE, Sri Lanka Ports Authority warehouses, C.W. Mackie and Co, Sri Lanka Convention and Exhibition Centre to release these commercial lands and relocate themselves in other areas, he said. Action has already been taken to evict 1,000 unauthorized settlements around the area and already 320 settlements along the railway reservations and around the Gangarama temple area have been shifted, he noted.
He disclosed that a massive project would be launched next year to prevent floods in the Colombo city, with Chinese assistance. The Beira Lake and canals connected to it will be dredged and renovated under this project. The World Bank would also provide US$150 million to construct new lakes to control floods, he revealed.
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