39 Conduit Road 2.86

39 Conduit Road is a residential property situated in Conduit Road in western mid-Levels of Hong Kong. It is a prestige development by Henderson Land Development.Soon after the development was launched in October 2009, the developer claimed to have sold a five-bedroom duplex flat, on the "68th floor" of the 46-storey building for HK$439 million (US$57m). The price, equating to US$9,200 per square foot, set the new world record for the most expensive apartment.There were criticisms of deceptive marketing in which the developers launched the project omitting 42 intermediate floor numbers. The development was once again the subject of controversy when only one sale had been completed within the commonly accepted three-month completion period; and all but four transactions, including the record-setting sale, were later cancelled.Plot historyThe incarnation of 39 prior to the Henderson development was known as "Rocky Mount". This eleven-storey building which was completed in 1965 had a total of 44 units, was used by civil servants. Henderson chairman Lee Shau-kee began acquiring units in the residence in the 1990s. He stepped up the pace of purchases from about 2001. He initially paid HK$4 million per unit, and later units were acquired for $8–9 million, by which time he had amassed 41 of the 44 units. Henderson applied to the Lands Tribunal for compulsory purchase of the remaining 3 units, but this became unnecessary following an operation with Peixin Group. The 3 remaining units were eventually bought out for an average cost of $12 million. Lee Shau-kee, who originally owned 60 percent equity of the site of the luxury building, sold it to the company for HK$1.75 billion or HK$12,759 psf.