Talking about Zheng Yutong’s two great "sand gall" works, the blue chimney pier is ringing |

Special interview

Written by: Wei Yingzhi

2020-10-04 07:00

Last update date: 2020-10-04 07:00

Zheng Yutong, the founder of New World Group (0017), was nicknamed "Sha Dantong" in the early years.

Seeing the word "sand gall", it is inevitable to think of Uncle Tong's bold and enterprising style.

It is true that in the early years of the real estate market in Hong Kong, there was a serious melee. Anyone who wants to rise up will have to be more or less bold.

Looking back at the history of the development of the New World, two masterpieces-Tsim Sha Tsui Blue Chimney Wharf and Wan Chai Convention and Exhibition Center development rights, you can see the "sand gall" of Uncle Tong.

With boldness and vision, New World has established its leading position in the Hong Kong real estate market today.

Uncle Tong bought the Blue Chimney Wharf for 130 million yuan in the early 1970s and converted it into landmark buildings such as the New World Center.

(Photo source: Hip Hing Construction Quarterly "Hip Hing ‧ 隽语", Issue 69, 2015.)

Spend huge sums of money on the blue chimney plot

Uncle Tung and a group of friends established New World in 1970. At the end of the next year, they made a decision that caused an uproar in the business community in Hong Kong. They purchased the Tsim Sha Tsui Blue Chimney, once one of the busiest ports in the world, from Swire (0019) for 130 million yuan. The pier land.

Why are you in an uproar?

In addition to the fact that the real estate market in Hong Kong had just recovered at that time, it was more important that the New World had just been established, with only 350 million yuan in assets on hand. Uncle Tong immediately used more than one-third of his assets to purchase the relevant projects. There was a lot of "bet".

The Blue Chimney Wharf project is located on the waterfront of Tsim Sha Tsui (the current location of Victoria Dockside and InterContinental Hotel). At that time, it was regarded as the king of the land, and to win the beautiful land, would it be possible to win the beautiful land only by high price?

More importantly, the government wants to build a landmark building, so investors need to negotiate with the government for development.

Therefore, Uncle Tong, who is optimistic about the development prospects of the East Tsim Sha Tsui area, did not hesitate to throw silver bullets, and specially hired SOM architectural design firm (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill), which designed the global headquarters for Citibank, to make an ingenious design for the project. It's good to win my heart.

Afterwards, the outside world began to pay attention to whether the project would become an antique Chinatown or develop into a hotel resembling an ancient Chinese city. As a result, the plan came out a year later, which is a complex of buildings with the New World Center as the core, including a 720-room building. Luxury hotels, two serviced apartments, one office building, and seven residential buildings have surprised the group of "peanut friends".

Blue Chimney Wharf has changed now and then:

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Regent Hotel K11 MUSEA hits another peak

After the official completion of the New World Center project in 1980, it became the most representative building complex on the waterfront of Tsim Sha Tsui. At that time, the New World Center owned the New World Department Store operated as a Japanese department store, and the Regent Hotel (predecessor of InterContinental Hong Kong, now It has changed hands. It is one of the five-star hotels that was well-known in Hong Kong at that time, and it is definitely the first masterpiece of New World.

Today, 40 years later, the New World Center has been demolished and rebuilt. Projects including K11 MUSEA and K11 ATELIER, including office buildings, hotels, and shopping malls, have been completed. Victoria Dockside has once again become a new landmark in the district and a subsidiary of New World. An important asset.

No one at the exhibition asked Uncle Jintong "I want to embrace the beauty"

After the completion of the New World Center project, at the same time, the sky over Hong Kong was also shrouded in haze due to future problems.

In the 1980s, the Sino-British negotiations on the Hong Kong issue were deadlocked. From Hong Kong's business community to the urban and rural residents, they doubted or even resisted the return. Doubts about the future of Hong Kong made the overall investment climate very weak.

At that time, the British Hong Kong government intended to develop the northern reclamation area of ​​Wan Chai, intending to build convention and exhibition facilities for holding large-scale international conferences and exhibitions, and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) was responsible.

However, given the political atmosphere at the time, coupled with the huge amount of engineering, and the amount of investment, no one paid any attention at first.

But just like the famous saying of "others are fear, I am greedy", Uncle Tong is very confident about the future of Hong Kong. Under the guidance of Li Guowei, the director of the New World and the head of Hang Seng Bank, Uncle Tong and the then chairman of the Trade Development Council Deng Lianru Contact and decide to invest in exhibition projects.

Opening of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre The first phase of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition (commonly known as the "Old Wing") was opened on November 25, 1988 by Governor Wilson Wilson.

Participants in the picture, from left: He Shanheng, Deng Lianru, Li Ka-shing, Zheng Yutong.

(Picture provided by South China Morning Post Publishing Co., Ltd.)

But the day after Tong Shu decided to invest in exhibition projects, it was reported that another consortium was willing to pay an extra 50 million yuan for the project.

As a former minister of the New World, Liang Zhijian recalled that Uncle Tong was determined to pay an additional 50 million yuan, "it is bound to be a beautiful woman."

Liang Zhijian pointed out that at that time, Uncle Tong had planned to invest 1.8 billion yuan in exhibition projects, so he no longer insisted on paying an extra 50 million yuan. He also believed that Uncle Tong was very far-sighted that year. Even though the project eventually exceeded the expenditure by 2.5 billion yuan, there were many companies at that time. The difference is whether they are willing to take a step that is considered a risk.

However, many troubles are troublesome. The Convention and Exhibition Center was suddenly selected as the handover site for the Chinese and British Hui teachers in Hong Kong, which immediately reduced the construction period of the second phase of the Convention and Exhibition Center to more than three years, and the progress attracted attention.

Feng Guojing, then chairman of the TDC, recalled that “it’s impossible to postpone one day, because the return date has already been set.” Moreover, because the project was transferred to Hip Hing under New World’s part in the process, Uncle Tong “seems like I don’t even feel like it. "Hua 咁", I went to the workshop to supervise nearly every day, and the project was completed on schedule.

Scholars pointed out that Uncle Tong has his own set of opinions behind him. He counts quickly and accurately, and he is very keen on certain things.

(Getty Images)

"Sha Dantong" seems to be blind, but it has rational calculations

Dr. Mok Jianwei, one of the authors of "The Biography of Zheng Yutong", pointed out that "Sha Dantong" is a very typical image of Uncle Tong, although in terms of textual expression, he feels that this person is "daring" and "good-minded", even in business decisions. The scale of the funds on the website is huge, and the decision is made right away, but in fact, Uncle Tong has his own set of opinions behind him. He counts quickly and accurately, and is very keen on certain things, so he is bold and courageous. There is actually a rational existence behind the emotion of doing it.

And Uncle Tong wants to personally go out and supervise the progress of the exhibition center project. Wang Huiling, another author of "The Biography of Zheng Yutong," believes that it is all because of the word "meaning."

"First of all, conventions and exhibitions are a big business, and a lot of capital has been invested to do it. Secondly, it has a lot to do with the return of Hong Kong. Uncle Tong feels that he is under the pressure to make it a success. "

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