Hines Office Project Tops Out in Shanghai’s Jing An

Houston-based developer Hines celebrated its latest milestone in China on Thursday by holding the topping out ceremony for an office project in Shanghai’s Jing An district, which it announced will be named “One Museum Place.”

Now structurally complete, the 54-storey Gensler-designed building is expected to add 134,000 square meters of grade A office space and 22,000 square metres of retail to the centre of Shanghai’s Puxi area. The area west of the city’s Huangpu River is Shanghai’s traditional city centre, and is currently seeing commercial rents rise due to a shortage of prime quality offices.

One Museum Place is Hines’ fourth project in the city, and its eighth in China, making the company one of only a handful of US developers to have amassed a substantial track record on the mainland.

LEED Platinum Project Aims for 2017 Opening

Hines was joined at the ceremony by a collection of local dignitaries and businesspeople, including its partners in the project, Gensler and Shanghai Construction Group – which is building the structure.

“While topping out the steel structure of One Museum Place is a major milestone, we are very focused on completing the rest of the building and continuing discussion with potential tenants,” noted Hines Senior Managing Director James Morrison.

The project, which is designed to achieve a LEED Platinum standard for environmental efficiency, is expected to be opened by mid-2017, according to a statement from Hines.

When complete, the 250-meter-high building will form a central part of a newly redeveloped area of the downtown district, centred around the new Shanghai Natural History Museum and the Jing An Sculpture Park.

The area lies between Beijing Road to the south, with Suzhou Creek to the north and is accessible from west by Shimen Road or frome the east by the descriptively named North-South Elevated Road. With a new station on the city’s Metro Line 13 expected to open next to the site, Hines is aiming to be part of an amenity district just north of the traditional West Nanjing Road business district.

Making Progress After a 2013 Victory

Hines originally won the site for One Museum place with a bid of just over RMB 3.7 billion at a government auction in 2013.

Reportedly edging out Beijing developer SOHO China, the US builder paid the equivalent of RMB 27,256 per square metre in accommodation area for the 17,937 square metre site.

Along with New York-based Tishman Speyer, Hines is one of the few US developers to successfully pursue multiple projects on the mainland, and is now active in 185 cities on five continents, according to its corporate website.