原文： New York Times
It may be one of the last big real estate deals in New York City, but to Henry Cheng, Riverside South, the multibillion-dollar joint venture that could transform Manhattan's largest buildable waterfront land into a community of 16 largely upscale apartment towers along with shops and parks, is just another development.
"In Hong Kong, China, we've done bigger projects than this, much bigger," said Mr. Cheng, a man parsimonious with words. He and his father, Cheng Yu-tong, have built one of Hong Kong's biggest global property and project development conglomerates, with substantial holdings stretching across Asia and into the United States.
For the Chengs, Donald J. Trump was not a rival but merely a target of opportunity. Mr. Trump first sketched out the plan for developing the 75-acre site along the Hudson River, blocks from Lincoln Center, but his recent financial problems allowed the Hong Kong group to buy his $250 million debt on the land for a bargain price of some $90 million and take over Riverside South.
Construction could start within a year, and Mr. Trump will share in the profits. But people familiar with the Chengs' operations agree that they, not Mr. Trump, will call the shots.
For the Chengs, one of Hong Kong's richest families, with a net worth reportedly about $3.3 billion, the Manhattan project is a minuscule part of their investments, but it is attractive.
"We think it is a very good investment opportunity," the 47-year-old Mr. Cheng said in an interview in his unostentatious office here. "We think the United States economy has started to pick up."
"New York is a very slow growth market," he added. "But we believe it has already bottomed out, so we are happy about the existing market. New York is still one of the major cities in the world."
With land here virtually exhausted, and with extensive interests across Asia, including China, the Chengs have been on the lookout for opportunities in the United States for some time, according to Paul Y. L. Tong, the general manager of the New World Development Company, the centerpiece of the Cheng empire.
"Previously we have been buying bricks and mortar," Mr. Tong said, referring to the group's vast chain of hotels and residential apartments in the United States, including the upscale Renaissance hotels. "We feel that perhaps this is the right time to do development. We had to look for a partner because we don't know the local situation."
Because New World does not invest directly in real estate outside Asia, Henry Cheng assembled a consortium of investors to complete the Riverside South deal. "The shareholders are a group of our good friends that got together," Mr. Cheng said. "We bought the debt at a discount." The group also bought the company that owns title to the site.
"A project of that size is really pin money for these guys," said David Faulkner, a partner at Brooke Hillier Parker, an international property concern with offices here.
How Henry Cheng's father, Cheng Yu-tong, ascended to the pinnacle of economic power is a familiar tale among the colony's wealthiest families. From his first job, as an apprentice in the Chow Tai Fook jewelry store at the age of 14, he rose quickly to build the largest jewelry chain in Hong Kong. Then he assembleda diversified empire of land, hotels, telecommunications, power projects and roads that branched in stages into China and the rest of Asia.
Today, New World, a publicly traded company which the elder Mr. Cheng controls with 35 percent of the stock, has a market capitalization of about $5.8 billion, making it one of Hong Kong's blue chip companies. CTF, as the Chow Tai Fook chain is known, functions as his wholly owned company, and holds his 35 percent share in New World.
Now 69, Mr. Cheng has built a reputation for hard work and disciplined deal-making. He and his son share adjoining offices in an undistinguished office tower in the central business district, offices that are notable for the lack of opulence so central to Mr. Trump's public image.
Ever the businessman, Mr. Cheng moved swiftly to build his company's holdings in China in the wake of the June 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, at a time when many investors held back, hurting China's world trade.
He went to school with Li Ziliu, now the mayor of Guangzhou, where New World has major projects. But Mr. Cheng insists that he has never exploited valuable friendships. "Everything must follow the right way," he told The South China Morning Post last year in one of his rare interviews. "I don't like doing things through the back door." Owner of Ramada Hotels
New World is perhaps the biggest hotel operator in Hong Kong, with two of the colony's best, the Regent and the Grand Hyatt. The company also owns Ramada International Hotels and Resorts in the United States, a concern that includes 45 Renaissance hotels, with one in New York City, and the Stouffer hotel chain. New World also owns hotels in China, Macao, Australia and the Bahamas, and over the next few years is planning new hotels in Taipei, Bangkok, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Mr. Faulkner, New World's diversification represents much of its strength. New World has major stakes in container terminals and tunnels, owns one of Hong Kong's four fixed-line telephone licenses and is developing road projects in the New Territories, the stretch of the colony that runs to the border with China. The company also has interests in infrastructure projects in China, including power, water plants and the ring road in Guangzhou.
Central to the Chengs' investment strategy has been the building up of New World's land banks. While his start in the property business focused on Hong Kong, where he controls about 12 million square feet, he has in recent years acquired far more property in China, where New World owns around 20 million square feet of space, analysts here say.
"China of course is the flavor of the month, but they're not putting all their eggs in the China basket, particularly because the economy there is having a bumpy landing," Mr. Faulkner said. "The very large groups have outgrown Hong Kong."
Still, Henry Cheng said that New World intended to put about one-quarter of its assets in China. "We believe in China in the long term," he said. Among the group's recent projects is a $580 million coal-fired power plant in neighboring Guangdong Province. High-Tech Buildings
Joining Mr. Cheng in the Riverside South project is Vincent Lo, the chairman of the Shui On Group, one of the territory's largest construction concerns. Mr. Lo's group is best known for its modern buildings, particularly Citibank Plaza. With its advanced equipment for teleconferences, sophisticated power management and elevators that never leave patrons waiting more than 15 seconds, Citibank Plaza is considered the most high-tech building in Hong Kong.
Franklin Lam, a property analyst at Salomon Brothers, said it was also outstanding for what is known in Chinese as Feng-shui -- a traditional practice of determining a building's auspicious setting, orientation and furnishing. Feng-shui is important even to very Westernized Hong Kong builders.
Mr. Trump first came to the attention of the Chengs through their American investment arm, Polylinks International Ltd., Mr. Tong said. "Then three months ago, we knew that the bank was prepared to sell his paper," he said, referring to the $250 million held by Chase Manhattan Bank. "Through a couple of agents, we started looking seriously."
Neither Mr. Tong nor Henry Cheng would discuss details of the Chengs' arrangement with Mr. Trump, or describe the elder Mr. Cheng's involvment. But, as to the latter, analysts here have no doubts.
"Cheng Yu-tung is a much richer man than Donald Trump ever was," said Clive Wheedon, a director at Asia Equity Ltd. "I don't believe any of these guys would ever allow a Westerner to drive one of these deals. Most of them regard the Western entrepreneurs as being pretty sleepy. They're not wrong about that."
Photo: Manhattan's Riverside South project is just another development to Henry Cheng, who is in the multibillion-dollar joint venture with Donald J. Trump. Mr. Cheng posed at his office in Hong Kong this week. (John Giannini for The New York Times)
Editor's Note: An article in Business Day yester day about the Cheng family of Hong Kong, which controls Hong Kong's biggest global property development company, described the Chengs' part nership with the New York developer Donald J. Trump in their joint venture to develop the Riverside South project on Manhattan's West Side. The headline was "How the Chengs Finessed Trump." Although the arti cle said the Chengs were able to ac quire Mr. Trump's $250 million debt on the Riverside South land at a deep discount, the headline exceeded the facts and emphasis of the article, which was mainly a portrait of the family and its involvement in the project.
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