Society
Illegally-built floating palace may be demolished
By Chen Hong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-18 08:04
 |
Large Medium Small |
The floating palace in Dongshan Bay in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. Inset: The swimming pool inside the property. [China Daily] |
SHENZHEN: A luxury villa floating on the sea and built at a cost of almost 100 million yuan ($15 million) may be demolished because its developer did not obtain the correct building permit.
However, the owner, Guo Kuizhang, a successful businessman in the commercial real estate development industry, said the villa is legal as he produced documents during a press briefing yesterday.
"We have the approval from the oceanic administration of Guangdong to develop a high-end oceanic entertainment project," Guo said. "Because it's new and there were no related laws, the administration allowed us to take it on as a pilot in 2008."
Guo started building the villa, with a Southeast Asia architectural style, in 2003 on fish rafts in Dongshan Bay at Nan'ao, in eastern Shenzhen, more than 50 km away from downtown. It was further expanded to cover a sea area of more than 3,000 sq m in mid-2004 and soon earned a reputation as the "palace on the sea".
| ||||
All visitors to the villa are by invitation only. Some have written online about its stunning luxury, including expensive furnishing, numerous antiques and a small horse-breeding farm.
But the oceanic supervision authority in Longgang district insisted, after repeated verification, that the floating palace on the sea was illegal because the developer did not obtain a permit to develop the sea area.
Guo applied for a permit around 2006 in the name of "developing a casual fishing industry". However, given that the main function of the sea area was for sea farming, his application was denied, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.
Apart from illegal use of the sea, safety has been another concern of the authority.
Using the villa for networking with friends, Guo sometimes hosts more than 100 people and arranges fireworks, which could generate structural problems or set fire to neighboring wooden rafts, said officials from the local oceanic supervision authority.
The oceanic supervision authority investigated the floating villa regarding its use of the sea area in January 2008 and held a hearing before imposing a fine on the developer, a subsidiary of Guo's Fashion Group Co, one year later.
The investigators found that the company illegally used a sea area of 15,800 sq m for 15 months. The authority decided to impose a fine of 711,000 yuan and ordered the developer to tear down the building.
However, the fine so far has not been paid because the company said it has no money.
The provincial oceanic administration has sent a special team to investigate the floating palace over the weekend and will announce the result of its investigation to the public soon.
