Shui's Additions Include $250M MXD Towers

The Taipingqiao project, which has Skidmore Owings & Merrill as master designers, is split up into four sections. Shanghai Xintiandi, a 614,000-sf retail and entertainment destination, was completed in 2002 on the western edge of the 128-acre project. The 893,000-sf first phase of office at Corporate Avenue was completed in 2004. The residential sector, on the southern side of the man-made Taipingqiao Lake and Park, includes six million sf. Magnolia Square has antique streets and Broadway-style theaters, says a Shui On spokeswoman. The development will have five retail malls, six office towers and four hotels when completed.

A company spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that the new four-level XTD mall will have one anchor tenant and 120 other shops. The target to be completed is mid-2009, he says. "There's a huge demand for retail in Shanghai," he says. "During the past five years, the growth of retail turnover in the city keeps a double-digit speed, that is 14.5% in 2007, and that mirrors the growth of retail turnover in China. More foreign retailers would like to open their stores in Shanghai, and the demand will be much bigger than we can provide."

Consumer spending in Shanghai city alone was around $50 billion in 2007, according to the city's mayor Han Zheng. According to DBS Bank in Hong Kong, retail sales in China will jump 18% in 2008.