Chinese firm has had 'ups and downs' with luxury development

Ten Trinity Square, situated near the Tower of London, is entering a new phase in its history.

Under the management of its new owner, the Beijing-based Reignwood Group, the building is undergoing restoration and will have apartments and penthouses, a five-star hotel, and a private members club. The Chinese investor bought the building in 2010 for 106 million pounds ($167 million; 151 million euros), and it took six months to secure conditional planning permission before conversion work could begin.

Ten Trinity Square, the former Port of London Authority's headquarters and one of London's most cherished and important buildings. Photos provided to China Daily

The new residential entrance at Ten Trinity Square.

Ten Trinity Square is a Grade II listed building that was designed by Sir Edwin Cooper and opened in 1922 by then-British prime minister David Lloyd George.

"Our new construction style, quality and materials is consistent with the original style and standard of materials used," says Ni Songhua, president of Reignwood.

It is the former headquarters of the Port of London Authority and overlooks the River Thames at Tower Hill.

It is also known for hosting the inaugural meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1946. More recently, in 2012, it featured in the James Bond movie, Skyfall, as the headquarters of MI6.

The renovation work is difficult and costly for such a building, Ni says. Any archaeological finds must be reported to authorities, and the developer must pay for the excavation.

"We dug up some Roman relics in 2013 and had to stop the project for four months.

"The project has to be suspended. You don't own the things that are dug out and have to pay for the cost of digging. In these four months, we spent 350,000 pounds every day. Millions of pounds were spent to pay for the staff. We paid 3 million pounds for workers who manually extracted the relics. More than 10 million pounds was spent in total.

"It is easy to say that you need to respect the local historical culture, but the price is huge.

"We arranged for 40 people to manually restore the UN Hall. This needed specialists, so it was more difficult than building a new, resource-consuming hall.

"We have gone through ups and downs for the past five years. In fact, we are not only developing the properties, but also are doing much of the hotel restoration. During this time, you must learn to communicate with the authorities, local residents and the local team."

While the expected total cost for purchase and renovation is between 405 million and 500 million pounds, Ni says: "This restoration program will contribute a lot to our brand strategy, corporate image, and our future development in Britain. This program, I believe, can keep releasing its business value."

Since September, Reignwood and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts have been developing Ten Trinity Square into a luxury hotel and residential development.

The Four Seasons will have 98 guestrooms and 41 private residences.

Ni says it is the right collaboration at the right time.

"The Four Seasons Hotel serves our residences while running this hotel. Residence guests can enjoy all the hotel's services," he says.

"I am very confident that it will be rated as the world's top luxury residence in the future. Each residence is different and special as it has to match the original building structure."

The floor area is about 37,160 square meters and the residences occupy 9,290 sq m of that. The rest comprises public space and the hotel.

"I have strong confidence in our program as it ranks in the top five brands in the global hospitality industry," says Ni.

There are plans to open the new development in September. Ni believes the price of the property will increase, especially after it opens.

A one-bedroom flat on a 999-year-lease costs 5 million pounds.

Ni says one-third of the buyers will come from Europe and one third from Asia to ensure the development has an international character. The target group is senior business managers and entrepreneurs.

"We are a world leader in private residences, hotels and clubs. There are difficulties along the way, but it is also a shortcut to build a famous brand. It is our goal to build a world-class brand," he says.

The project has created 1,000 jobs so far and at least another 300 jobs will follow once the hotel opens.

Before the Trinity Square purchase, Reignwood bought another landmark, Wentworth Golf Club, for 135 million pounds in 2014.

At the time of the acquisition, Reignwood's founder, Chanchai Ruayrungruang, was quoted in international media as saying the company would draw on the club's "exceptional expertise" to inform its other golf operations across Asia.

"Reignwood has a long history in golf development and a profound respect for excellence," he was quoted as saying. "As a world famous golf institution, Wentworth is a key strategic acquisition for our rapidly growing luxury lifestyle division, whose unique culture we are dedicated to preserving and whose exceptional expertise will inform our golf operations across Asia."

Ni says there have been no major changes to the club.

Reignwood was founded in 1984 in Thailand, opening branch offices in Hong Kong and Beijing in 1990. The group has since acquired assets in key markets as part of its global investment portfolio.

"As the UK and Europe are home to many famous brands, and economic growth is based on consumption in developing countries like China, I think we should take the opportunity to buy as many European premium brands as possible, laying a good foundation for future development," Ni says.

"I think we will continue to buy assets with brands if they are worthy. Going forward, the Chinese and global markets must attach more importance to brands."

zhangchunyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 07/24/2015 page8)