Livelihood

In July 2021, Swire Properties announced that it will form a joint venture with Shanghai Jing’an Real Estate (Group) Co., Ltd. Together, the two companies are collaborating on a major revitalisation of Shanghai’s Zhangyuan district.

With a total site area of over 430,000 sq ft, Zhangyuan comprises 43 shikumen (a type of terraced building) blocks containing around 170 historic buildings with 28 different architectural styles. Dating back to 1872, this is the largest, best-preserved and most diverse shikumen compound in Shanghai.

The joint venture will revitalise Zhangyuan into a vibrant lifestyle hub by preserving and restoring the shikumen houses and making full use of the underground area. Above ground, the project will create a cultural innovation venue, high-end office spaces, residential apartments, a boutique hotel, and numerous retail and dining options spanning 645,000 sq ft. An underground area of over 750,000 sq ft will connect to three Metro lines, providing transportation links to surrounding communities.

Swire Properties formed a strategic partnership with Tap & Go, one of the selected operators of the Hong Kong government’s HKD5,000 Consumption Voucher Scheme, set up to help the city’s economy recover from the pandemic. We offered more than HKD4.7 million in rewards and experiences at Swire Properties’ three Hong Kong shopping malls – Pacific Place, Cityplaza and Citygate Outlets.

We were the first developer to collaborate with Tap & Go in supporting the scheme, providing a necessary boost to businesses and helping to drive Hong Kong’s economic recovery. Alongside the scheme, we ran promotional campaigns offering shopping rewards such as cash vouchers and exclusive gifts. We also produced a series of lifestyle videos featuring Hong Kong celebrities, documenting their “shopping adventures” at Pacific Place, Starstreet Precinct, Cityplaza and Citygate Outlets.

Youth empowerment continues to be a key element of Swire Properties’ placemaking efforts. In 2021, we continued our work to foster the next generation of Hong Kong’s leaders by partnering with The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups’ Social Innovation and Youth Business Unit, taking part in their Young Entrepreneurship Course.

This initiative encourages young people to explore and find new directions outside of the traditional youth job market and provides entrepreneurial support and training. Participants are also given opportunities to connect with professionals to enhance their skillsets.

A Swire Properties’ portfolio manager contributed his knowledge and experience during virtual meet-and-greets to introduce industry practices, and shared tips using real-life cases and examples, the goal being to equip the young entrepreneurs with some key business basics.

Over 70 students participated in the two sessions, giving positive feedback. In particular, the youths enjoyed the highly practical content which armed them with knowledge about how to approach future leasing issues if they choose to pursue a career in the real estate industry.

Blueprint offers flexible solutions for workspace and event space needs across two floors of Dorset House in Taikoo Place. On one floor, an open-plan co-working area houses 90 desks, suitable for nurturing start-up companies and small businesses, while 15 private offices of various sizes also cater for larger clients, including multinational corporations. The second floor holds 10,000 sq ft of event venues, including an auditorium and a town hall which can be converted into training rooms, all of which are equipped with sophisticated audio-visual equipment.

Blueprint offers various flexible memberships to support those who are working from home or remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These flexible arrangements include lounge passes, day passes and meeting room bookings. Blueprint’s all-inclusive facilities provide alternatives to home offices in a professional working environment.