History of a towering fiasco

Early 1980s: Hopewell Holdings starts buying land in Wan Chai

February 1994: Town Planning Board approves application to build 93-storey hotel

April 2004: Board rejects plan for 60-storey twin-tower hotel, saying it is incompatible with the neighbourhood, will cause traffic congestion, kill too many trees and damage the city skyline

July: Board tells Hopewell to improve architecture and ensure hotel will not cause traffic jams

September: Two amended plans are sent to the board

January 2005: Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung cites project's difficulties as evidence of government-business collusion