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Villas open for business in Shanghai
(eastday.com)
Updated: 2004-06-11 09:27

Officials in Hongkou District, Shanghai, plan to renovate 48 Western-style villas along Liyang Road, including the former home of literary giant Lu Xun, to attract foreign-invested companies to open offices in the houses.

A cyclist passes a Western-style villa on Liyang Road in Hongkou District. District officials said they will renovate nearly 50 villas in the area to attract foreign-invested firms to use them as office. [eastday.com]

The project is part of a long-term plan to develop the area - one of the Shanghai's biggest and best-preserved villa neighborhoods - into a business center.

"We want some big-name companies to relocate their headquarters into those villas," Zhang Zhiliang, a spokesperson for Hongkou District, said yesterday.

Zhang said the district still doesn't know how much the project will cost as that will depend, to a large extent, on how much compensation the government pays to relocate current residents of the villas.

A preliminary estimate put together by district officials suggests renovating the villas will cost at 500 million yuan (US$60 million). That estimate was based on a prediction that it will cost 10 million yuan to renovate each house.

"Those villas were built between 1910 and 1930," said Ruan Yisan, a renowned professor of ancient architecture at Tongji University. "Since they were located within the then-Japanese concession, some of the villas reveal Japanese style."

Only the roofs of the villas can be seen from Liyang Road, as most of the houses are hidden behind a wall of tall trees. They were originally built as two-story homes out of gray bricks and red tiles, but some of the villas have had extra floors added over the years.

A private garden lies in front of each villa.

The villas cover a 13-hectare area surrounded by Bao'anzhi Road, Liyang Road, Changchun Road and Xingjiaqiao Road N.

Once the renovations are completed, the area will be divided into five zones for different functions including a "cultural exhibition area" and a "commercial and residential area," according to the plan.

Several current residents of the villas told Shanghai Daily yesterday that they have formed a bond with their homes and they won't allow the city to relocate them.

"I grew up with those big trees in our garden," said a resident surnamed Bao, who has lived at 1267 Liyang Road for five decades. "No matter how much compensation I may get, I won't give up this residence."

Six to seven families now share a single villa in the crowded area.

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