Swire and HKRI Rename Shanghai Nanjing Road Project as HKRI Taikoo Hui

Hong Kong real estate developers HKR International and Swire Properties have been preparing for more than nine years to change Shanghai’s downtown with a new commercial megacomplex in the heart of the city’s Nanjing Road shopping district.

But before they could open their 321,200 square metre mall, office and hotel combo, the complex formerly known as Dazhongli, needed to change its name.

Now the project, the first phase of which is scheduled to open next year, has been renamed Taikoo Hui, following the naming standard set by Swire, which holds a 50 percent interest in the project.

Downtown Project to Open Next Year

“We are very proud to introduce the official name for our first project in Shanghai, HKRI Taikoo Hui,” said Guy Bradley, Chief Executive of Swire Properties. “This project is being built in the most vibrant district of this amazing city, and will be the last major development in the Jing’an District.”

HKRI began acquiring the site for the Taikoo Hui project in 2002, and brought Swire on board as an equal partner in 2006. The complex, which will include a retail mall, two office towers and three hotels/serviced apartments, is located between West Nanjing Road and Weihai Roads in Shanghai, and is bordered on one side by Shimen Yi Road, next to the West Nanjing Road metro station.

Swire’s Chinese name is Taikoo, and the UK-based conglomerate already owns and operates the successful Taikoo Li projects in Beijing and Chengdu, as well as Taikoo Place in Hong Kong.

HKR International, which also hold 50 percent of the the HKRI Taikoo Hui project, is headed by Payson Cha Mou Sing. The company is best known as the developer of Discovery Bay, a fully integrated resort-styled residential project in Hong Kong. HKRI also has mainland projects in Shanghai and Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, as well as in Tianjin.