The Bund in Shanghai was home to foreign trading settlements beginning in the mid 19th-century. Shanghai grew rapidly since then as an economic center for China and Asia. Shanghai's financial market became the third largest in the world, behind London and New York. The Rockefeller Group's first redevelopment phase encompasses 1,011,808 square feet of mixed-use buildings on a block of approximately four acres. It includes luxury residences and retail shops, a hotel, office space, and facilities for cultural attractions.

The Rockefeller Group is the official Master Developer for a portion of a historic area in Shanghai, China, known as The Bund, once the home of the city's financial and trade industries.

The Rockefeller Group and its partners are redeveloping a six-block historic area, restoring the area's landmarked buildings and developing new, architecturally compatible buildings to evoke the best of the world-renowned glamour and elegance that Shanghai enjoyed during the 1920s and '30s as a center for international trade and travel.

The Phase One development encompasses 1,011,808 square feet of mixed-use development on a block of approximately four acres. It includes luxury residences and retail shops, a hotel, office space, facilities for cultural attractions, public squares, and underground parking. The block includes seven landmarked buildings. The entire project is to be known as “Rock Bund” and is expected to be completed by The World Expo in 2010.

The municipal government named the redevelopment to its list of top ten projects most important to the city, which means the municipal government will be monitoring and assisting the project closely to ensure its success.

The government is seeking international standards of development and investment for the project, as well as international tenants and high-end retailers.

The project is under the direction of William G. Tung, who serves as Managing Director, Asia Pacific, for Rockefeller Group Development Corporation. Profile of William Tung.

For this project, The Rockefeller Group partnered in a cooperative joint venture with the New Huangpu Group, a privatized government company in Shanghai that was designated to participate in the project.