Property aristocracy rubbed shoulders with pop royalty in Hong Kong earlier this week when Adrian Cheng schmoozed with superstar Pharrell Williams at the pre-launch unveiling of K11 ARTUS, the real estate scion’s brand of serviced apartments for cultural creatives at New World Group’s newly launched Victoria Dockside.
Striking a casual pose for the cameras in grey joggers and black leather jacket, Cheng was snapped on the red carpet with the “Happy” rapper Pharell Williams, who had donned a pair of shocking pink Adidas trainers for the event on the Kowloon waterfront.
All images courtesy of Adrian Cheng and K11
Happy to be Unveiling K11 “Artisanal” Homes
Cheng, the grandson of New World founder Cheng Yu-tung and son of current chairman Henry Cheng, has good reason to be happy. Just last month, his family’s New World Development group recorded a 29 percent hike in core profit over a six month period to HK$5.4 billion ($687.49 million).
Billed for a summer launch, the K11 Artus “artisanal” homes on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront are marketed to “free thinkers and world travellers” looking for a place where they can “gather and share ideas, surround themselves with inspiration through art, design and intuitive services,” according to K11 Artus’official LinkedIn page.
Earlier this month New World had officially launched its first Rosewood Hotel in Hong Kong at Victoria Dockside, a Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed redevelopment of the former New World Centre. Adrian Cheng’s sister Sonia Cheng serves as CEO of New World’s Rosewood Hotel division.
Cultural Influencer
The younger Cheng, now vice-chairman of the family empire that controls over 16 million square feet (1.5 million square metres) of investment properties in Hong Kong, featured on Forbes’ 2012 ‘Forty Under Forty’ list and has made the arts-driven K11 brand his own stronghold within New World. Adrian Cheng is said to have had primary responsibility for the $2.6 billion Victoria Dockside project, which includes office and retail space under the K11 Atelier brand, in addition to its hotel and serviced apartment components.
The 39 year-old’s “museum retail” concept won him notoriety in the noughties when he opened the first of his K11 gallery-style malls in Hong Kong in 2009, and shaking up the city’s retail scene by filling them with artwork by Chinese artists. In a move that cemented his status as a cultural influencer, he went on to collaborate with international art institutions such as Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.
At the pre-launch party for his K11 ARTUS homes, the property hipster posed for Insta-worthy pics with a seemingly bemused Pharell Williams, who is reported to have some interest in property speculation in the US. Last year, the 49 year-old rapper snapped up actor Tyler Perry’s 17,475 square foot Beverly Hills home for $15.6 million as an investment, and he is rumoured to be investing in a proposed beachside entertainment complex in his hometown Virginia in partnership with developer Venture Realty.
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