HSBC Holdings is planning to take up to 20 office floors in one of two high-rise towers at Shanghai IFC, a landmark commercial complex in the heart of Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone.
The company will house its China headquarters and acquire signage rights to the building, said project developer Sun Hung Kai Properties and the British bank yesterday in Shanghai.
The grandest development in Lujiazui, the Shanghai IFC, with a total gross floor area of 400,000 square meters, will incorporate 210,000 square meters of Grade-A office space, 100,000 square meters of retail space and 90,000 square meters of deluxe Ritz-Carlton and W hotels.
The first phase of offices will be ready in 2009 and the entire project is due to be completed in 2010, according to Walter Kwok, chairman and chief executive of Sun Hung Kai Properties, a Hong Kong property giant which boasts extensive experience in developing large high-end projects.
"Our investment in this stunning high-rise tower, the HSBC Building-Shanghai IFC, not only demonstrates our long-term commitment to China, but our great confidence in Shanghai's future," Stephen Green, HSBC Group chairman, said yesterday while attending the ground-breaking ceremony of the Shanghai IFC project.
The exact amount of the HSBC deal was not disclosed yesterday. However, the South China Morning Post reported last week that the transaction could be worth more than US$334 million, citing estimates by an investment director with DTZ, one of the world's Big Five real estate services providers.
The deal came a month after HSBC agreed to sell its London headquarters for 1.09 billion British pounds (US$2.18 billion), the largest single property deal in Britain.
Gross development value of the Shanghai IFC project could reach US$1.02 billion, the Hong Kong newspaper also reported earlier.
In addition to Shanghai IFC, Sun Hung Kai is also developing Lot 3, an integrated high-end shopping, office and luxury residential complex on Huaihai Road in Puxi, and Wei Fong, a luxury residential development in Pudong, Kwok said.
The developer's local portfolio also includes Shanghai Central Plaza, a high-end office-retail complex on Huaihai Road, and Grand Mayfair, a serviced-apartment block in downtown Xujiahui which is part of the Arcadia Shanghai residential development.