The Furama Hotel () was a 33-storey hotel in Central, Hong Kong, located at 1 Connaught Road Central. The site is now occupied by the AIA Central office building.
History The Furama Hotel was designed by Eric Cumine Associates and built for the Furama group and was completed on 18 August 1973. It had 33 storeys and a total height of , with a revolving restaurant on the top floor named "La Ronda".. Emporis
Inter-Continental Hotels Ltd. assumed management in 1976, and the hotel was named Hotel Furama Inter-Continental. In 1990 the hotel was acquired by Kempinski and renamed the Hotel Furama Kempinski Hong Kong."Kempinski Hotels – 100 years of a grand tradition", Hürriyet Daily News. 1 June 1997
Lai Sun Development (LSD) acquired the hotel's parent company, Furama Hotel Enterprises, in June 1997 for HK$7 billion.Dennis Eng, A little less debt for ailing Lai Sun , The Standard, 18 November 2002 This was done by acquiring a 45.42 per cent stake for $3.13 billion, and a general offer at $33.50 for each remaining shares at a total cost of $6.893 billion.Veronica Luk, Furama stock skyrockets after Lai Sun stake purchase , The Standard, 21 June 1997 To finance the acquisition, the company geared itself up heavily taking on $5 billion in bank loans and issuing bonds for more than $2 billion.Clare Cheung, Lai Sun in move to bail out unit , The Standard, 11 March 2000
While the other Furama Group hotels were integrated into the hotels division, Lai Sun Hotels, the Furama plot was to be combined with the Ritz Carlton plot, which it already owned, for redevelopment into a prime office block. Then the Asian financial crisis struck, plunging the entire group into distress and forced asset sales.
In March 2000, LSD announced that a 65% stake in the Furama would be sold to a 50:50 joint venture between Pidemco, controlled by Temasek Holdings, and AIG for HK$1.88 billion.AIG joins Pidemco in $1.88b bid for 65pc of waterfront site , The Standard, 1 March 2000 As part of the deal, Lai Sun would continue to operate the hotel until its redevelopment, at an annual rental of HK$145 million. Together with CapitaLand, and AIG, LSD formed Bayshore Development Group to develop AIG Tower, a 39-storey commercial office block with a gross floor area of . AIG and CapitaLand each own 35 per cent, and Lai Sun owns 30 per cent. The Furama closed in November, and was demolished in December 2001.Reuters story, Lai Sun joins $4b office venture at Furama site , The Standard, 30 July 2002
References
External links
CTBUH entry Corporate website , Furama Group