China developers plan large furniture center
Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, September 21, 2010
HOUJIE, China - Officials with the Dongguan Famous Furniture Assn. have announced they plan to build a wholesale furniture center here that could reach 10 million square feet over time.
The Famous Furniture Expo Park would be in Houjie, a section of Dongguan that is near the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center, the site of the 3F International Famous Furniture Fair held here each March and September. This season's fair, which concluded Sunday, featured about 935 exhibitors in nearly 3 million square feet of temporary space.
A press release about the Houjie project included few details about the size of various buildings or how long it would take to reach 10 million square feet. It also did not say how much the project would cost or how it will be funded.
Officials with the Dongguan Famous Furniture Assn. did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
The press release indicated that the planned facility draws its inspiration from High Point and Milan, Italy, as trade show locations, but also as yearround furniture marketing and design destinations.
"Houjie is about to become the third important place because it is taking up the core competitive strength of both High Point and Milan and combining them together in one place," Yin Chengzhi, the association's president, said in a statement.
As planned, the center would include showrooms, furniture design agencies, logistics companies and warehouse space. The release did not say whether it would have any retail space.
The plan calls for the first phase of the project, the International Famous Furniture Procurement Center, to be completed in March 2012. It would include 3 million square feet of year-round, permanent showroom space with seven floors, two of which would be underground. Major Chinese brands would occupy most of the building, while the top floor would house international brands.
The first phase also would include a 20-plus-story Famous Furniture Headquarters Tower to house furniture producers' marketing and product development offices.
The release didn't say whether the new center would become the home of the 3F fair, or if not, what its role would be during the fair.
Officials said the Dongguan region has more than 3,000 furniture producers and related businesses.
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