Hongkong Land

Founding

Hongkong Land was formed on 2 March 1889 and was initially named The Hongkong Land Investment and Agency Company Limited. It was founded by two businessmen in Hong Kong — Sir Paul Chater and James Johnstone Keswick. Besides property, Chater was also known for his interests in brokerage and bullion while Keswick was Tai-pan of Jardine, Matheson and Company Limited.

Chater had been lobbying for some time in government circles for a new reclamation project in the Victoria District in Central Hong Kong and the construction of a new Praya along the harbour front. Six days after the formation of Hongkong Land, he got his way. The reclaimed land was to yield an area of 65 acres of building land some 250 feet wide along a new waterfront road that came to be known as Chater Road. This "Central Reclamation" has since become a core element of Hong Kong's Central District, forming as it does the land between today's Des Voeux Road Central and Connaught Road Central, including Statue Square and Chater Road itself.

The four-storey New Oriental Building was the first commercial building on the Central Reclamation built on Marine Lot 278 at No. 2 on the then newly formed Connaught Road and completed in 1898. This building was demolished in the early 1960s and the site is today occupied by the AIA Central building. The Chater Road reclamation can thus be seen as the starting point for Hongkong Land's development of "Central" as Hong Kong's business district.

Early years

Following the construction of The New Oriental Building, between June 1904 and December 1905, Central saw the completion of five major buildings that were Hong Kong's first 'skyscrapers'. These included the Alexandra Building in 1904, which was built on the location of today's Alexandra House.

By 1941 the company possessed 13 properties in Central. One of the most notable among them was Marina House, Alexandra Building, Holland House, Queen's Building and Prince's Building.Hongkong Land ceased business for three years and eight months during the Second World War. But when the company reclaimed its office buildings in September 1945, they were all in good structural condition.

The first post-war project came in 1947, adding three more floors to the five-storey Marina House. Then came the redevelopment of 11 and 13 Queen's Road Central into the nine-storey Edinburgh House, which was completed in 1950. These buildings stood on the sites of today's Edinburgh Tower and York House.

At the same time, three old buildings on a triangular site formed by Des Voeux Road, Chater Road and Ice House Street — Alexandra Building, Royal Building and Chung Tin Building — were demolished to make way for the 13-storey Alexandra House.

1960s and 1970s

By the mid-1960s, Hongkong Land owned nine office blocks as well as the shopping complex in Prince's Building and The Mandarin Hotel. These were connected by the first pedestrian bridge. Since then, Hongkong Land's buildings have been linked to one another, forming a network of commercial buildings.During the 1970s, the company began investing in international markets, building a portfolio of properties in Australia, Hawaii, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.The Group Chief Executive Vernon Robert's leadership during this period was the construction of the Connaught Centre. On 1 June 1970, the company paid a then world-record price of HK$258 million at a public auction for an important new central reclamation site. On completion in 1973, the 52-level, 696,000 square feet Connaught Centre was Hong Kong's largest and most advanced office block. It was renamed Jardine House on 1 January 1989.

Redevelopment during the 1970s of Hongkong Land's "Central" portfolio began with the demolition of Alexandra House and the construction of what was to be the third building to bear that name on the site. The 36-level project, which was finished in 1976, was joined by Prince's Building, Swire House, The Mandarin Hotel and Connaught Centre by overhead walkways. Today, it forms a footbridge network connecting Hongkong Land's commercial portfolio.

Hongkong Land developed residential properties in mid-levels, including May Tower in 1974 and Branksome in 1976. The company also acquired a tract of land in Pok Fu Lam and started construction of the Chi Fu Fa Yuen complex. This consisted of 20 towers with 4,258 flats, along with a shopping centre, restaurants and recreational facilities.

1980s and 1990s

The 1980s saw Hongkong Land diversify from its usual property interests, as it bought significant shareholdings in Hong Kong Telephone Company Ltd and Hong Kong Electric Holdings Ltd.

In 1982, Hongkong Land acquired the last major site available in Central with a bid of HK$4.7 billion and began construction of the first phase of Exchange Square. It was the largest commercial complex in the territory at the time and the most technologically sophisticated.The year 1982 saw the property market in Hong Kong plunge dramatically, and in the following two years, rentals halved. This was a period of financial difficulty for Hongkong Land as it looked to reorganise itself and reduce its debt burden through asset disposals and restructuring measures. Hongkong Land sold its international properties as well as its non-core assets in Hong Kong, including its interests in Hong Kong Telephone and Hong Kong Electric. But its core assets in the heart of Central were left untouched.

In 1984 the property market began to look up again and in late 1985, Hongkong Land completed and opened the first phase of its new flagship property, One and Two Exchange Square. In 1988, the final third phase of Exchange Square was completed and The Forum was opened.

The Landmark was completed in two phases in 1980 and 1983. It comprised two 47-level office blocks, Gloucester Tower and Edinburgh Tower, and a large five-level shopping podium.

During the 1990s, Hongkong Land continued to enhance its core commercial office portfolio in Hong Kong, while beginning to look at investment opportunities in other Asian cities.

In Hong Kong, Central office space supply increased substantially in the late 1990s and in 1997 the company launched the redevelopment of Swire House, now named Chater House, as a world-class building in the heart of Central.

In Singapore, the company began the construction of One Raffles Link, an office building in the centre of the city that was an early example of sustainable construction. The building was completed in 2000.