by wildcherry on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | Places to Visit, Travel

HONG KONG (AFP) – The owner of Bruce Lee’s former Hong Kong mansion has agreed to turn the property into a tourist destination commemorating the late kung fu legend, his advisor said Wednesday.

Millionaire philanthropist Yu Panglin met with government officials to try to hammer out a plan to preserve Lee’s last residence, Michael Choi, who is assisting Yu in the negotiations told AFP.

“Since Yu decided to withdraw his plan to sell the mansion in July last year, the government had been considering the feasibility of a conservation plan,” Choi told AFP.

“Both sides reached a consensus on restoring the property to Lee’s days and turning it into a tourist attraction,” he said.

Yu bought the 5,000 square feet (460 square metres), two-storey house in Kowloon Tong for 850,000 Hong Kong dollars (109,000 US) in the 1960s. The property is now worth around 100 million dollars.

He hopes to expand the floor area of the mansion — which has been used as a seedy love hotel — and turn it into a large museum complex with a cinema, library and martial arts centre.

“We met with Lee’s daughter last October and she agreed to help us restore the mansion to its former shape.

Tags: Bruce Lee, bruce lee home