New World Development to revamp HK's State Theatre into mixed use property

New World Development will be revamping Hong Kong’s State Theatre complex into a mixed-use property, after its partial acquisition of the historic site back in 2020. Situated in North Point, the development will have a gross floor area of 35,790 square metres, including 18,726 square metres for residential and 17,064 square metres for commercial use, according to the Buildings Department’s Monthly Digest for May 2022.

New World chief executive Adrian Cheng said in a statement last year that the State Theatre will return as a new cultural performing arts landmark, “With our conservation project, the State Theatre will return once again as a culture and arts landmark with more riveting stories to tell,” Cheng added. New World took over the former cinema in October 2020 through a compulsory sale that valued the project at HK$4.8 bn (now HK$610m), which was the highest assessment ever for a property purchased under Hong Kong’s rules for redeveloping historic buildings.

In 2019, New World bought retail units 15, 16 and 17 at 277-291 King’s Road for HK$188 million, paying a 132% premium over a third-party valuation of the property, which would have valued the properties at HK$80.83m.

Following the 2020 compulsory sale, New World received the all-clear from building code inspectors that was finally granted in May of this year. Back in April last year, New World Development launched onsite tours on the premises for public visit before the restoration work begins. 

The event "Discover the State Theatre in All of Us", curated by Culture for Tomorrow, a non-profit organisation founded by New World Development CEO Adrian Cheng, allowed visitors to rediscover the golden age of the State Theatre in the 1950s. At the beginning of the tour, visitors were asked to go to the box office to "select" their seats. After that, they could receive a vintage movie ticket that marks the start of the journey. 

Originally known as the Empire Theatre when it opened its doors in 1952, the property was renamed as the State Theatre in 1959 and has long been an iconic feature of Hong Kong popular culture. Topped by a distinctive set of concrete arches and visible along the streetcar line that winds through the middle-class neighbourhood, the theatre featured in Bruce Lee’s 1978 film Game of Death, while Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng performed there in 1970.

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