Tong Chun-wan, director of Shine Hill Development, said: 'When the Government put the site to public tender, it was looking for a developer who could put up a building that could match its architectural expectations.' Shine Hill Development is the consortium which undertook the multi-billion-dollar Citibank Plaza project.

The consortium is made up of several partners - Great Eagle, with 69.5 per cent; Kerry Properties (10 per cent); Manhattan Garments (10 per cent); Citibank (five per cent); Wing Tai Exporters Ltd (3.85 per cent); and Peregrine (1.65 per cent).

About $5.5 billion was invested in the project.

'In the open competitive tendering, there were two criteria that the Government laid out,' Mr Tong said.

A professional architect and a senior general manager of the Great Eagle Estate Agents Ltd, Mr Tong said one of the most important factors the Government considered was price.

'Every tenderer had to submit a detailed design, complete with models and architectural drawings proposing how they were going to develop the site,' he said.

'This design evaluation was the second most important factor.' A panel was also used to look into the designs of the tenderers.

The panel was made up of Buildings Department officials, planning experts and representatives of the Lands Office.

'We [Shine Hill Development] tendered the highest bid. And ours was one of two most outstanding designs submitted to the committee,' Mr Tong said.

The site was up for tender as lot 8888, a number always considered auspicious in Hong Kong. Developers bid $2.7 billion to secure the site in July 1989 - just weeks after the Tiananmen Square incident.

Mr Tong said: 'On this project, we worked in advance with architect Rocco Yim. Apart from our bid, Mr Yim's efforts also helped us to get the site.

'The twin-tower design was a deliberate idea. It makes sense in marketing terms.

'With two towers, especially when they are joined in the middle floors, we had the flexibility of offering one big floor to a potential tenant. That helped a lot in our marketing. It proved successful, as you can see.

'Besides, the two towers blend in aesthetically with the Bank of China tower.' Big area users, like the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Nomura, were among other investment banking and financial institutions that took up inter-connected floors.

A floor that stretches from Citibank Tower to Asia Pacific Finance Tower offers 38,000 square feet of space.

From the beginning, the developers were willing to make additional investments to build a commercial property with advanced features, Mr Tong said.

Incorporating modern design and advanced technological features to provide a building with the highest quality leasable space meant that the developer showed the resolve to undertake extra investments.

Mr Tong said: 'We respected the design of the architect. We gave Rocco Yim a free hand. Great Eagle believes that the money was well spent. It also proves that our philosophy of taking a long-term view was right.' He said Citibank Plaza was a carefully planned achievement that was meant to last.

'This was an interesting project that Great Eagle undertook, not only by virtue of its location, but also the availability of this piece of land in Garden Road,' he said.

'This site was one of the last pieces of prime land right in the heart of the business district.' The bid for the site in July 1989 was made at a time of uncertainty in Hong Kong.

Mr Tong said: 'After Tiananmen, most business people were hesitant about investing. But Great Eagle considered the whole picture - the global market - not just a certain period in drawing up the business strategy.

'Hong Kong needed office buildings that matched the office facilities in big financial centres like New York, Tokyo and London. So, we were aiming to put up a building for the 21st Century.

'We wanted to develop a building that had advanced technological features and it had to meet the requirements of future tenants.' He said the building, while blending easily with its surroundings, also altered the physical landscape of the financial centre of Hong Kong.

He said the Hongkong Bank building and Bank of China tower, together with the Citibank Plaza, formed a banking centre that linked the older areas of western Central and recent developments in Admiralty.

He said: 'Traditionally, the area along Queen's Road and Pedder Street was considered as Central.

'But, with the development of Admiralty and Pacific Place, that area became another location with prestigious office buildings.

'These two areas each contributed about 10 million square feet of Grade A office space. And these areas became an extension of what we regarded as Central.

'Now, Garden Road has become the centre of these two areas. This has become the new business centre of Hong Kong.' On the other hand, Citibank Plaza had contributed to the consolidation of the Central banking district of the territory.