Hong Kong’s new cultural hub is inviting bids from developers to construct and operate three buildings earmarked for offices and entertainment, the first commercial project in the area.

The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority issued the tenders for the Artist Square Towers Project on Friday, two weeks after the opening of M+, the city’s first purpose-built visual arts museum.

Located in the heart of the district, the project comprises three commercial buildings with a gross floor area of about 65,000 square metres, about 96 per cent of which will be for offices with the rest for retail, dining or entertainment.

In a statement on Friday, the authority said the successful bidder would be granted the development and operational rights for 34 years and made responsible for the design, construction, financing, marketing, leasing, management and maintenance of the project. The tender stage is expected to close in February.

“The project is seamlessly connected with a number of world-class arts and cultural facilities, including the newly opened M+,” a spokeswoman said. “This invitation of tender is a precious opportunity for the private sector to take part in such an ambitious arts-and-culture-led development.”

The M+ museum is the centrepiece of the 40-hectare district on the Victoria Harbour waterfront, which aims to make Hong Kong a leading cultural destination with world-class collections of 20th- and 21st-century visual culture.

A Hong Kong version of Beijing’s Palace Museum located in the same district is also expected to make its debut in July next year.

Oscar Ho Hing-kay, an adjunct associate professor of cultural and religious studies at Chinese University, said that despite being commercial in nature, the Artist Square development should have cultural charms of its own if it hoped to draw tenants and visitors in a changed market.

“Even offices in Central may have difficulties in leasing now,” he said. “In the long run, there is a certain possibility that the buildings will be attractive to tourists. Still, first of all, it is necessary to make the cultural district exhibit an attractive and unique atmosphere.”

Ho added that the cultural district had a challenging few years ahead given the city’s shaky economy, the ongoing pandemic, a recent wave of emigration and political fears over the future of artistic expression in Hong Kong.