Kowloon City Plaza
Kowloon City Plaza (KCP; Chinese: 九龍城廣場) is a shopping centre located at Kowloon City, Kowloon, Hong Kong.[1][2] It was established in 1993, and it underwent a HK$100-million renovation from October 2005 to December 2006. The shopping centre re-opened on 26 January 2007.[1]
Location | 128 Carpenter Road, Kowloon City, Kowloon, Hong Kong |
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Opening date | 1993 |
Developer | Paliburg Holdings |
Architect | Aedas Architects (for renovation of 2005-06)[1] |
No. of stores and services | over 70 |
Total retail floor area | 640,000 sq ft (59,000 m2) |
No. of floors | 10 floors |
Parking | 400 spaces |
Website | KCP |
Kowloon City Plaza | |||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 九龍城廣場 | ||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 九龙城广场 | ||||||||||||
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History
On 28 November 1989, the site was purchased at government auction for HK$286 million by Lo Yuk-sui of development company Century City. Lo stated that his company planned to spend HK$700 million constructing a shopping and cinema complex, with a car park, on the site.[3]
A subsidiary of Century City, Cathay City International, launched the Kowloon City Plaza development. The property was sold to Paliburg Holdings, a related company, in December 1990 for HK$357 million.[4]
The complex received its occupation permit in May 1993.[5] It opened later that year. Following the closure of nearby Kai Tak Airport, Paliburg Holdings proposed to build a 39-storey hotel on part of the site. However, this was rejected by the Town Planning Board on 19 November 1999, on the grounds that the scale of the proposal was not compatible with the site's surroundings.[6]
Kowloon City Plaza was acquired by real estate fund Pamfleet, in partnership with Morgan Stanley, for HK$2.03 billion in April 2004.[7] Pioneer Global Group, a technology company, subsequently took a small stake in the deal.[8] The new owners thereafter carried out a major renovation, completed in 2006 at a cost of around HK$100 million, of the interior and exterior of the property.[9] Rents doubled following the refurbishment.[10]
During the 2008 financial crisis, the property was sold to toy baron Francis Choi for HK$1.48 billion.[11][12]
Description
The building has a floor area of around 640,000 square feet (59,000 m2) and houses over 70 shops and eateries over seven shopping levels. It also had 400 parking spaces.[13] The anchor tenant is Japanese supermarket and department store AEON, which occupies the entirety of the 2/F and 3/F levels.
Gallery
- McDonald's in Kowloon City Plaza
- The exterior appearance of Kowloon City Plaza
- The Customer Services Counter of Kowloon City Plaza during Chinese Lunar New Year
References
- KCP About Us Archived 2011-01-11 at the Wayback Machine
- Public views welcome for Kowloon City Section of Shatin to Central Link Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- Symonds, Mark; Lok, Francis (29 November 1989). "Auction prices fail to indicate obvious trend". South China Morning Post. p. Property 1.
- Kirby, James (31 December 1990). "Paliburg buys plaza for $357m". South China Morning Post. p. Business 1.
- Porter, Barry (18 October 1993). "Century City net takes 45pc leap". South China Morning Post. p. Business 1.
- Woo, Richard (20 November 1999). "Planners reject Paliburg's Kowloon City Plaza hotel". South China Morning Post. p. Business 2.
- Li, Sandy (28 July 2004). "Overpriced real estate loses lustre". South China Morning Post. p. 1.
- Wong, Raymond (27 May 2004). "$39m Pioneer deal for stake in plazas". South China Morning Post.
- Wong, Foster (8 March 2006). "$100m makeover for Kowloon City Plaza". South China Morning Post. p. 3.
- Li, Sandy (27 January 2007). "Rents double at new-look Kowloon City shops". South China Morning Post. p. 3.
- Ko, Tin-yau (13 June 2017). "Fate of Kowloon City Plaza tied to HK's economic ups and downs". Hong Kong Economic Journal.
- "Toy story end in mall deal plot". The Standard. 14 June 2017.
- "About KCP". Kowloon City Plaza. Retrieved 9 December 2021.