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WHO
would have imagined that
Asia’s response
to the glamorous and seemingly overexposed developers of
the US (think Hilton or Trump) would take the form of
the unassuming but unstoppable behemoth that is the
Shimao Group?
Headed
by China’s second-richest man, Hui Wing Mau, the Shimao
Group is at the heart of a vast real-estate empire
currently valued at $10.2 billion.
The
company has focused most of its projects on luxury and
hotel developments, with projects ranging from
Hong Kong to
Shanghai
to the distant interior province of Lanzhou. With China
last noting an increase in billionaires (106 from 15)
and, according to 2006 statistics, 345,000 registered
millionaires, there is no doubt the Shimao Group has a
very lofty position in catering to such wealthy clients.
The
Shimao Group, now based in
Shanghai,
has been credited with being one of
China’s first real-estate luxury brands when it started in
the early 1990s. Since then, it has become the largest
publicly traded real-estate developer in
China,
taking international projects with India’s Oberois and
Malaysia’s biggest developer Canal City Construction.
Never a
believer in doing things in a small way, the Shimao
Group is involved in no fewer than 37 projects in China
alone. These projects can mostly be classified as
miniexclusive cities where the very wealthy may interact
with one another undisturbed.
Another
innovation that the Shimao Group is credited with is
their creation of the “riviera model,” or the bridging
of landscape, waterside, and architecture with
environment, natural ecology and artificial landscaping.
In the
port city of Shanghai, the Shimao Group owns eight
luxury development projects, the most prominent of which
is the Shimao International Plaza—the tallest building
in Puxi and housing high- end stores and the five-star
hotel Le Meridien Shanghai. Other iconic structures are
the Hyatt on the Bund and Shimao’s Riviera Garden
featuring six world-themed gardens. Shimao’s presence in
Shanghai
is so pronounced that its properties provide over 10
percent of
Shanghai’s
five-star hotel needs.
In
Beijing is the Shimao Olive Garden, a mixed-use, luxury
high-rise development that has views of Beijing’s famed
Olympic stadium and the Beijing Sanlitun Project, which
is being developed into an entire premium commercial
hub.
Dongfanghong
Town
in Lanzhou is being built as a large-scale commerce
center and business city, while in the northern province
of Harbin, the Shimao Group is developing Sui-Po free
trade zone near the Russian border which will have
casinos, a processing district and exhibition centers.
Even
Hong Kong, which doesn’t lack for big developers, has
received attention with the development of Hong Kong
Genesis, a series of ultraexclusive villas at Victoria’s
Peak.
The
Group also has other developments going, besides
residential communities—there is the soon-to-
be-completed Shanghai Shimao Wonderland, which will be
the first theme-oriented project providing a service
package taking into account catering, lodging,
transportation, tourism, shopping and entertainment
needs. There will also be a five-star hotel built into
the cliff with underground rooms.
Apart
from its busy project pipeline, the Shimao Group is also
noted for its generosity, having recently donated HK$10
million to the China Charity Foundation for relief in
disaster areas stricken by a snow storm. |
