Ronnie Chan's long route 66 to success in Shanghai
A year after Hang Lung Group chairman Ronnie Chan Chichung took over the reins from his father in 1992, he made a big push to purchase land in Shanghai and envisioned turning it into a modern business complex.
But it was not until last year that the project at Nanjing Xi Lu was completed. The 66-storey office and shopping mall, named Plaza 66, is now the home for luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Tiffany.
What now appears like a success story was not arrived at easily.
'People wondered if I was out of my mind,' Mr Chan told his group's new magazine, not surprisingly named 66. 'I had the biggest parcel of land in Shanghai and wanted to build grade A offices at a time when no one could be certain there was a market for them.
'My answer now, as it was then, is that the market is only so-so at the moment, but look at our projects in Shanghai now. The results are far better than we ever expected.'
