After languishing for six years on the outskirts of Shenyang in Liaoning province, Holland Village, the huge aborted theme park development, is gearing up for new life as a mega residential project under its new owner, China Overseas Land and Investment.
The mainland developer now plans a large high-end residential project valued at more than 10 billion yuan (HK$11.35 billion). The new project, comprising a total gross floor area of 3.1 million square metres, will be built on two adjacent sites among 13 plots that were originally offered for tender by the Shenyang government in September.
'The two plots of land we bought are the two biggest among the 13 sites, accounting for a major part of the whole area,' said a management executive of China Overseas Land.
The resurrected Holland Village project would now be raised on the two sites and would be primarily a residential project, but might also include a small area for commercial use, he said.
In April, the Shenyang government demolished almost all of the earlier construction of what was to become the Holland Village development, including a full-size replica of the Peace Palace in the Hague, windmills, castles, a Venice water park, a zoo and vacation villas.
The demolition released 200 million sqmetres of land in 13 plots for public sale. The government hoped to find a white knight to revive the development, which was aborted after its initial developer, Yang Bin, was jailed for illegal business activities for 18 years in 2003.
Yang's dream of converting his orchid farm into a Holland-style village included proposals to build 66 residential blocks of four to 10 storeys, 180 vacation villas, a three-storey European shopping complex, a five-star hotel, a theme park, canals, fountains and even fake Roman ruins.