Nina Wang's folly gets new lease of life

HONG KONG: The late Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum's biggest property folly is back in business after spending eight years in mothballs amid market upheavals and a court battle over the eccentric billionaire's fortune, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Chinachem Charitable Foundation had on Tuesday offered flats in the 129 Repulse Bay Road residential tower for lease, marking its first step back into the market after winning the legal dispute in February.

The foundation's Chinachem Group invited hundreds of media representatives from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong to witness the launch of the flats and the new face of the company.

Wang bought the site for HK$5.55 billion, or HK$16,275 per sq ft, at a government land auction in 1997, a record price at the time.

The average sale price of the project had to reach HK$25,000 per sq ft to generate a reasonable profit. But during the Asian financial crisis that followed, prices in the area plunged 30 per cent to HK$16,000 per sq ft, then to less than HK$10,000 per sq ft in 2003 during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

After two boom-and-bust cycles, prices are finally high enough for the developer to generate a profit.

While it may appear a poor investment, Dr Molly Gong Chung-sum, younger sister of Wang and a Chinachem director, said: "This is a meaningful place to my sister. She married Teddy Wang Teh-huei on September 29 in 1955, and the next day they celebrated their first Moon Festival in Repulse Bay."

It was also the first site sold at a land auction since the handover and Wang wanted to signal confidence in the city.

"My sister ordered the staff to win the site, no matter the price," Gong said. "She wanted to show the public that she was confident in Hong Kong and that she loved Hong Kong and mainland. She went to London and invited Lord Norman Foster to be the chief architect. She liked his design for Hong Kong airport and the HSBC (SEHK: 0005, announcements, news) building in Central."

But progress moved at a snail's pace and the interior design had not been finalised when Wang died in April 2007. "Her instructions were that the design had to be modern and compatible with the environment," Gong said. "That became our goal after she passed away."

Chinachem Group is the largest privately-run developer in Hong Kong having developed more than 300 residential and commercial projects. But some of its residential projects have been criticised for their poor quality.

The luxury Repulse Bay project is a chance for the developer to show a new face to the public.

Plans for the building - officially named The Lily - have changed several times over the past eight years. Chinachem first intended to build a luxury residential building. The company then wanted to convert it into a six-star hotel with 352 rooms.

However, those plans were scuttled when the Lands Department imposed a higher-than-expected land premium levy for the conversion in 2006. A year later a plan was drawn up for serviced apartments.

The 24-storey building offers 100 serviced or rental apartments ranging from 1,800 sq ft to 7,700 sq ft and available from HK$90,000 a month to more than HK$400,000. - SCMP