Leading lights in real estate dominate the China Property Awards 2016

The Winners and Highly Commended in China’s premier industry awards have been revealed on 7 December

Wednesday night’s JW Marriott Hong Kong was home to China’s premier real estate event of the year, the third annual China Property Awards 2016, organised by PropertyGuru, Asia’s leading online property group.

The evening celebrated 2016’s most outstanding developers and real estate developments from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, with 22 awards presented in front of nearly 200 VIPs and senior industry figures, including Hong Kong billionaire Chao Sze-Tsung Cecil, owner of Cheuk Nang Holdings Ltd.

Excitement ensued when last year’s top winner, Sino-Ocean Group, won its back-to-back title for Best Developer, further cementing its leading position in China’s property sector. “Time and time again, Sino-Ocean Group has demonstrated over the last 20 years its ability to create landmark projects in key locations. It continues to push the boundaries in real estate development across China,” noted the judging panel led by chairman Paul Tse, president of the board of the Macao Association of Building Contractors and Developers.

“Sino-Ocean Group has consistently been a standard-bearer whose name is commensurate with high-quality standards and cutting-edge conceptualisation in its projects. With numerous high-profile projects not only in major and secondary cities in China, it has also expanded into other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond,” the judges noted. “The Sino-Ocean brand has been successfully nurtured over the years, and is now well-recognised and pursued by partners and consumers alike.”

Aside from the highest accolade of the year, Sino-Ocean Group also picked up the Best Residential Development (China) trophy for its Beijing-based, multi-phase project Ocean Epoch. Independently managed private equity real estate firm Phoenix Property Investors, which led the nominations with a total of five nods, collected three awards for its ultra-luxury condo project The Morgan, located in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels West district. The firm’s other nominated project, 3 Julia Avenue, was named Highly Commended in two categories by the judging panel.

Meanwhile, Wynn Palace Cotai by Wynn Resorts dominated the hotel subcategories, taking home two design awards plus the Best Luxury Hotel Development accolade. Wheelock Properties’ acclaimed One HarbourGate project, one of the year’s top finalists, won two awards, namely Best Green Development and Best Office Development (Hong Kong & Macau), plus a Highly Commended citation.

Last year’s Real Estate Personality of the Year winner Dr Allan Zeman’s Lan Kwai Fong Group clinched two top categories: Best Boutique Developer and Best Mixed-Use Development (China) for Shanghai DreamCenter, sharing the latter honour with partners China Media Capital, DreamWorks Animation, and China Development Bank.

The editors of Asia’s industry-leading Property Report magazine chose one of the most prominent names today in Hong Kong real estate, Adrian Cheng Chi-Kong, executive vice-chairman and joint general manager at New World Development Company Limited, as the 2016 Real Estate Personality of the Year.

Under Adrian Cheng Chi-Kong’s leadership, New World Development today remains one of the most active and innovative retail developers in Greater China, producing world-class projects such as art and eco-malls that cater to today’s and future generations. The company is also known for promoting various corporate social responsibility initiatives, as well as making globalisation a priority.

As global economic and domestic financial uncertainties preclude the possibility of a dramatic rise in capital value, judging panel chairman Tse noted that stability will be the keyword for China real estate in the coming year.

On selecting the country’s best developers and properties, he commented: “It was important for the judging panel as a whole to set criteria in a professional, transparent and forthright manner, to encourage as many of the potential participants as possible to come forward, and to adjudicate in a way that brought out the best projects in the best light possible.

“A successful adjudication adds to the already widely acknowledged credibility of the China Property Awards and provides a strong foundation for further growth ahead.” All entries in the China Property Awards and the site visits were fully supervised by BDO, one of the world’s largest accountancy and auditing firms. The third annual China Property Awards is the final event of the 2016 Asia Property Awards series, which held its South East Asia Property Awards grand finale in Singapore last month.

“2016 has been a momentous year for the Asia Property Awards. Since starting 11 years ago the Awards have always endeavoured to reward the best in local real estate and produce credible winners with a transparent entry and judging system. We have achieved this goal by developing the most detailed and comprehensive entry system of any property awards in the world,” said Terry Blackburn, founder and managing director of the Asia Property Awards.

“Over the past decade since the beginning of our awards series, China’s property sector has shown remarkable growth and today has become one of the world’s most active markets,” he added. “We offer our warmest congratulations to all the Winners and Highly Commended companies and developments in this year’s China Property Awards.”

The complete list of Winners and Highly Commended at the China Property Awards 2016:

DEVELOPER AWARDS

Best Developer

• Sino-Ocean Group Holding Limited – WINNER

Best Boutique Developer

• Lan Kwai Fong Group – WINNER

 

BEST OF THE BEST

Best Green Development

• One HarbourGate by Wheelock Properties – WINNER
• SuperD Technology Centre, Shenzhen, China by Ho & Partners Architects Engineers & Development Consultants Limited – HIGHLY COMMENDED

 

SPECIAL AWARDS

Special Recognition in CSR

• New World China Land Limited – WINNER

Special Recognition in Sustainable Development

• Lan Kwai Fong Group – WINNER

 

DEVELOPMENT AWARDS

Best Residential Development (China)

• Ocean Epoch by Sino-Ocean Group Holding Limited – WINNER

Best Mixed-Use Development (China)

• Shanghai DreamCenter by Lan Kwai Fong Group, China Media Capital, DreamWorks Animation, China Development Bank – WINNER

Best Retail Development (China)

• Parc Central by Guangzhou Hong Cheng Plaza Real Estate Properties Ltd. – WINNER

Best Ultra Luxury Condo Development (Hong Kong & Macau)

• Kau to HIGHLAND by Couture Homes Limited – WINNER
• The Morgan by Phoenix Property Investors – HIGHLY COMMENDED

Best Luxury Condo Development (Hong Kong & Macau)

• The Peak 小潭山莊 by Cheong Kong Construction Co., Ltd – WINNER
• 3 Julia Avenue by Phoenix Property Investors – HIGHLY COMMENDED

Best Retail Development(Hong Kong & Macau)

• Temple Mall North by Link Asset Management Limited – WINNER

Best Mixed-Use Development (Hong Kong & Macau)

• H CODE – 45 Pottinger Street, Hong Kong by Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. & Hip Shing Hong (Holdings) Co. Ltd. – WINNER

Best Office Development (Hong Kong & Macau)

• One HarbourGate by Wheelock Properties – WINNER

Best Hotel Development

• The Parisian Macao by Sands China Ltd – WINNER

Best Luxury Hotel Development

• Wynn Palace Cotai by Wynn Resorts, Limited – WINNER

DESIGN AWARDSBest Residential Architectural Design

• The Morgan by Phoenix Property Investors – WINNER
• 3 Julia Avenue by Phoenix Property Investors – HIGHLY COMMENDED

Best Residential Interior Design

• The Morgan by Phoenix Property Investors – WINNER

Best Hotel Architectural Design

• Wynn Palace Cotai by Wynn Resorts, Limited – WINNER

Best Hotel Interior Design

• Wynn Palace Cotai by Wynn Resorts, Limited – WINNER

Best Retail Architectural Design

• Parc Central by Guangzhou Hong Cheng Plaza Real Estate Properties Ltd. – WINNER

Best Office Architectural Design

• SuperD Technology Centre, Shenzhen, China by Ho & Partners Architects Engineers & Development Consultants Limited – WINNER
• One HarbourGate by Wheelock Properties – HIGHLY COMMENDED

Best Landscape Architectural Design

• The Morgan by Phoenix Property Investors – WINNER

PUBLISHER’S CHOICE

Real Estate Personality of the Year

• Adrian Cheng Chi-Kong, Executive Vice-Chairman and Joint General Manager, New World Development Company Limited

The China Property Awards 2016 was supported by official newspaper China Daily, media partners Property Report, Leisure Insight, Keypad, Landscope Realty (an exclusive member of Christie’s International Real Estate), the Royal Institute of British Architects Hong Kong Chapter, and the Macao Association of Building Contractors and Developers.

As a precursor to the annual gala dinner, the Property Report Congress China was held in Hong Kong for the first time in the morning of the awards ceremony and gala dinner, which began with a two-hour international networking cocktail reception. Conference speakers and delegates included Mark Clifford, a Property Report Congress 2015 alumnus, who gave the opening keynote address entitled “Greening Asia: New Thinking in China’s Property Sector,” plus roundtable moderator Vincent Cheung, executive director for Asia at Colliers International, and member of the China Property Awards judging panel.