The Historical Evolution of World Trade Plaza in Hong Kong

The development right was given to MTR Corporation Limited, including the construction area of two high-rise buildings in the fifth phase of Kowloon Station in the sixth and seventh phases of the property (so it was not called the fifth phase of Kowloon Station), and on September 6, 2000, the fifth, sixth and seventh phases were combined for public bidding, of which the seventh phase was a skyscraper (now World Trade Plaza). Sun Hung Kai Properties successfully obtained the development rights of related properties, which contributed to the largest single development project in recent years. The whole project includes the development of residences, hotels, serviced residences, shopping malls, office buildings and parking lots, with a total construction area of 504,350 square meters (5.4 million square feet) and an investment of about 20 billion yuan. Engineering consulting firm Arup &; The report of Partners Hong Kong Limited pointed out that the scheme designed by SOM architectural firm has structural problems, and the construction and maintenance costs are too high, which is not cost-effective. As a result, the developer Sun Hung Kai Properties re-opened the tender to design the building, and put forward two major principles: first, the building is technically feasible, and second, it is cost-effective.

The final design was won by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates at 200 1, and the height was lowered to 480m (the actual height was 474m). Subsequently, the developer Sun Hung Kai Properties applied to the Urban Planning Commission in 2005 to raise the total building height from the horizontal benchmark of 480 meters to the horizontal benchmark of 490 meters (that is, the actual height is 484 meters), which was finally approved. The revised height can still make it the tallest building in Hong Kong, but it cannot surpass the world's tallest building, Taipei 10 1 Building (508 meters high).

There have been rumors that the height reduction of the World Trade Center was caused by the government's revision of the law. This is really a rumor. According to the Outline Zoning Plan of the Town Planning Board, as of July 2007, the location of the World Trade Center did not list any building height restrictions. Therefore, Sun Hung Kai Properties applied to the Town Planning Board in 2005 to raise the total building height from the horizontal benchmark of 480 meters to the horizontal benchmark of 490 meters, and was successfully approved. On August 8, 2007, Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, signed an agreement with Sun Hung Kai Properties to lease the floor of World Trade Plaza 16, with an area of over 350,000 square feet, as its new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong. It is estimated that this transaction involves a monthly rent of 35 yuan100,000 yuan. It is expected that Morgan Stanley will move into the World Trade Center at the end of 2008 and become one of its largest tenants. On the same day, Lei Ming, executive director of Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, also pointed out that in addition to Morgan Stanley, there are many international multinational organizations interested in renting the World Trade Center, and revealed that almost all floors in the first phase have been rented out.

On June 5th, 2007, 65438+February 5th, 2007, Credit Suisse and Sun Hung Kai Properties reached a long-term lease agreement, renting the office floors of the 87th to 97th floors of World Trade Center 1 building, with a total construction area of * * * 300,000 square feet, as its new port headquarters. Credit Suisse has rented the highest office floor of the building, of which the 88th floor will serve as the VIP reception. Credit Suisse will complete the relocation of all departments on 20 1 1 and become the second largest tenant of the World Trade Center.

On April 10, 2008, Sun Hung Kai Properties announced that the World Trade Plaza has recently attracted a series of new tenants from different industries, including ABN AMRO brand-new branch, China Haidian Group, EFG Bank, Japanese letterpress (formerly Fast Finance /SNP Vite) and Titan Resources.

On May 6, 2008, Deutsche Bank announced that it would lease 420,000 square feet of the World Trade Center 12 floor, and reserved 6 floors for future expansion, up to 18. The total area of leased and optional leased floors averages 62,000 square meters (equivalent to about 630,000 square feet). Deutsche Bank plans to move to the new site of the World Trade Center in stages from the third quarter of 20 10, and become the largest tenant of the World Trade Center.

In mid-June, 2008, the new ABN AMRO store officially opened, and the access from Fiona Fang to the World Trade Center was limited. The offices of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority are located on floors 15 and 16 of the building.

As of August, 2009, the property was almost 100% leased, and the tenants who have stayed in the property include Morgan Stanley, ABN Amro, Deutsche Bank, China Haidian Group, EFGBank, Letterpress (formerly Fast Finance) and TitanResources. In addition, Credit Suisse Group, a European investment bank, reached a long-term lease agreement with SHKP earlier, renting an office building with 87th to 97th floors *** 10 as its new headquarters in Hong Kong.