Guangzhou-based Yuexiu Property signed a deal Monday with Hualian Group Investment Holding, under which the parent company of high-end fashion department store SKP will help transform Yuexiu’s massive new Zhujiang New Town Racecourse site into a mixed use urban complex.
As part of the deal, Hualian will anchor the development with Guangzhou SKP – the luxury retailer’s first outpost in southern China. The project also includes a high-end residential area, office buildings, sports venues, educational facilities, a hotel and a green corridor, reports Yicai Global.
Under the cooperation agreement, Yuexiu will be in charge of building the complex, designed by London-based architecture firm and longtime SKP partner, Sybarite. Yahoo Finance reported that renderings in leaked government documents feature a L-shaped architecture with SKP’s signature geometric lighting system.
For its part, SKP will be in charge of running retail operations. Among the most profitable luxury retailers in the world, SKP logged a group-wide 15-percent increase in turnover last year, a source told Yahoo Finance. The flagship SKP Beijing netted a 6.8-percent gain for the period, totalling 23.5 billion yuan (US$3.4 billion).
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SKP Guangzhou aims to become “a new consumer landmark in the Greater Bay Area”, according to a company statement, bringing in global luxury fashion brands while also boosting the local fashion scene, exhibitions, tourism and high-end services.
The same statement announced projected annual sales of more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion), while local media reports say the project aims to drive 30 billion yuan (US$4.2 billion) in retail sales within its first six years.
The more than 125,000-square metre site, in Guangzhou’s central business district, was acquired by Yuexiu at an auction on 25 February after it paid 23.6 billion yuan (US$3.4 billion) for the, making it the highest average price per square metre in the city’s history.
Construction of the complex, expected to take 3 to 4 years, could begin as early as the end of March.
