Shanghai-based Jin Jiang International Hotels Group Co intends to build the highest hotel in the world in Shanghai, which will displace the nearby Park Hyatt and Hong Kong’s Ritz-Carlton, which opens in March.
The venture with Shanghai Tower Development Co will see the development of the 258-room Tower J-Hotel, between the 84th and 110th floors of the 121-storey building, said Jin Jiang in a recent filing to the Hong Kong exchange.
The 632-metre Shanghai Tower located in the Pudong business hub is poised to become the second-tallest building in the world when completed in 2014.
Jin Jiang joins developers that have sped up the construction of landmark skyscrapers in China. The Shanghai World Financial Center, completed in 2008, is now the tallest building in China, while the Shanghai Greenland Group Co started the construction of the third-highest tower in the world in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
“Being the tallest sticks in people’s minds,” said Nicholas Mak, head of research and consultancy and executive director at SLP International Property Consultants Pte in Singapore. “There are many people who can claim they’re the most luxurious, but that’s a bit subjective. It’s technically challenging to build the tallest and this gives bragging rights to the owners.”
The Park Hyatt at Mori Building Co’s Shanghai World Financial Center is the highest hotel in the world, occupying the 79th to 93rd floors of the 492-metre building.
The Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong will occupy the 102nd to 118th floors of the 490-metre International Commerce Centre in Kowloon, allowing it to take the top spot from Shanghai’s Park Hyatt.
The Shanghai Tower hotel is being constructed to surpass the Forbes (Mobil)’s Five-Star and AAA’s Five-Diamond standards, the company said in a statement. The hotel will help the company to expand its J-hotel brand. Jin Jiang also plans to develop 10 to 12 landmark properties in major cities to “capture first-mover advantage in China high-end hotel market”, it said.
“Having the highest hotel in the world obviously will draw significant, if somewhat short-lived, PR coverage,” said James Macdonald, head of China research at London-based real estate broker Savills plc in Shanghai.