Land, the crown jewel of Xiangjiang real estate industry!
Whoever controls Land will be the king of the real estate industry in Xiangjiang!
This is the Hong Kong media’s evaluation of Land.
Although Land's Dairy Farm International and Mandarin Oriental were spun off and listed after Simon Keswick took over Jardine Matheson, Land's prestige remains intact.
Land was founded in 1898 by the famous businessman Paul and James Johnston Keswick, the then executive director of Jardine Matheson.
In the 1970s, the commercial building reconstruction boom in Hong Kong first started in the Central business district of Hong Kong Island. For a long time, Central has been the heart of Hong Kong's commercial and economic activities. Its pulse represents the power and vitality of Hong Kong's overall society and is the reason for Hong Kong's prosperity.
The highest symbol.
Before the 1970s, valuable properties in the central business district of Central were basically monopolized by the famous British real estate company Real Estate. This situation did not gradually change until the rise of emerging Chinese real estate developers in the mid-to-late 1970s, with each occupying its own territory.
situation.
However, Land has always been its own kingdom in the core area and has become the crown jewel of Xiangjiang real estate.
After the 1970s, the redevelopment boom of commercial buildings in Central District was first started by Land. In June 1970, Land purchased a 53,000-square-foot newly reclaimed land in the Central District of Hong Kong Island at a high price of NT$258 million. Land built a new land on this site.
The 52-storey Connaught Building (today's Jardine House) was built in record time. From the start of construction in October 1971 to the grand topping out ceremony in April 1973, it took only one and a half years.
The total investment in the Connaught Building, including the land price, was NT$400 million, providing offices and shopping malls with a rental area of more than 690,000 square feet. It was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia at the time. It later became the headquarters of the Jardine Matheson Group, overlooking the entire Victoria Harbour.
In 1974, Land announced that it would spend NT$600 million to launch a 10-year Central District redevelopment plan.
The first phase of the project was to rebuild the Alexandria Building. Land had proposed to exchange the old Alexandra Building for the Hong Kong Government's General Post Office (the site of today's Universal Building), but was rejected and had to rebuild it on its own. The new Alexan Building was completed in 1976, with a height of
It has 36 floors and a total building area of 357,000 square feet, which is 119,000 square feet more than the old Alexandria Building.
The second phase of the project is the demolition and reconstruction of Gloucester Building and Royal Bank. In order to connect the properties into one, so as to build a first-class high-rise commercial building and a shopping mall with a broad platform, the land is located across Pedder Street from Jardine House and Wheelock Company.
The Lane Crawford Building was exchanged, and the Gloucester Building and the connected Landmark were built on the original site in 1979.
The third phase of the project was to demolish the adjacent Duke's Building and Princess' Building and build the Duke's Building, which has a similar appearance to the Gloucester Building. The entire huge project was completed in 1982.
The Landmark Plaza covers an area of more than 20,000 square feet, with a total of 5 floors of platforms; two floors are basements, and all platform units are turned into boutiques and restaurants of different styles. Various performances - fashion shows and concerts can be held in the center of the square
and exhibitions, etc. It is surrounded by a coffee gallery and tea seats covered with light-transmitting fiberglass, making it a high-end shopping and entertainment venue in the central district.
The connected Gloucester Building is 47 storeys tall and has a rentable area of 600,000 square feet, including 465,000 square feet of office space and the rest are shops. The biggest feature of the building is its sparse exterior wall structure.
The windows and doors are deeply recessed, using the structure of the building to shade the windows and doors, and the materials are aluminum window frames and tinted glass to reduce indoor heat. All facilities in the building are controlled by an advanced computer system, including alarm air intensity adjustment
Water supply, lighting, security and communication systems, etc.
Duke Building is also connected to Landmark Plaza and Gloucester Building. It is 47 floors high and can provide a rental area of 600,000 square feet.
After the reconstruction of the two buildings, the available area will increase by 796,000 square feet compared with the original area.
After the completion of the massive 10-year redevelopment plan, the Planning Department of the Hong Kong Government even set up skywalks between the buildings to connect many of Land's valuable properties, including Connaught Building, Swire Building, Mandarin Hotel, Prince's Building, Alexandra Building, Gloucester
The Duke's Building and the Landmark Building are connected, and are directly connected to various places in the district, such as the General Post Office and the Star Ferry Pier. It seems to be a country of its own and has become the natural heart of Central.
Just as the 10-year plan was about to be completed, Land launched a more eye-catching expansion plan. First, it demolished and rebuilt the Holland Bank and Lee Lee Bank on Ice House Street. This project was completed in the early 1990s and became the famous No. 9 Avenue Central.
Property.
On February 12, 1982, Land purchased a new land adjacent to Connaught Building in Central District at a record-breaking price of NT$4.755 billion. According to the contract, Land was required to build a new bus terminus on the ground, with a two-story bus terminal above it.
A layer platform where the Hong Kong Securities Market will be located.
This development plan, later named Exchange Square, was carried out in two phases, with a total investment of more than NT$8 billion. The first phase was two 52-story commercial buildings, completed in 1985; the second phase was to build a 32-story building adjacent to it.
A tall independent commercial building, completed in 1988. The three exchange plazas have a total floor area of 1.545 million square feet. Their dynamic shapes and large tinted glass curtain walls completely change the scenery of Victoria Harbor.
Due to the demolition and construction boom of commercial buildings in Central District, even the Heung Kong Club with a long history is not immune.
The Heung Kong Club is located adjacent to Statue Square and is the only remaining Victorian-style building in the area. The demolition and construction of the club was shelved due to opposition from many members.
However, in the late 1970s, the real estate market was unprecedentedly prosperous, which aroused the covetousness of many real estate developers. As a result, Youdao: Land has been operated by Jardine Matheson for many years. Although we became the largest shareholder of Land this time, the entire management of Land
Almost all of them are the original people. If you want to gain real control of Land, you are still far away!
Li Chaoren is such a shrewd businessman. After She Tunxiang took over Hutchison Whampoa, it took him nearly a year to truly control Hutchison Whampoa. Now that Land was acquired, he naturally had to hand it over.
Management in Zhou Tao's hands.
In other words, at this time, Zhou Tao had to divert some of his energy from Tunan Technology to focus on Land Land.
This will be a huge challenge for Zhou Tao.
The same is true for rock temperature.
Although Yan Wen will not join the management of Land, with the listed companies in Xiangjiang acquired through the stock market crash, it is bound to become an emerging consortium, and this consortium, Wu Jianye will be handed over to Yan Wen to take care of. The tediousness involved
No worse than Zhou Tao.
It is conceivable that in the following years, neither of them will be relaxed!