1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 322 New York Crystal Palace

This is the first time that the Crystal Palace in New York has appeared in front of the world with a complete posture. The Crystal Palace is 400 meters long, 130 meters wide, and the flat roof is 30 meters high, of which the vault is 42 meters high.

The volume of the entire building is slightly smaller than the original Crystal Palace in London, but it is different from the Crystal Palace in London in the choice of building materials.

Considering the dismantling after the World Expo, the Crystal Palace in London adopted a building material of all cast iron and glass.

The Crystal Palace shopping mall in New York does not have this problem, and the construction period is longer, so it can use thicker cast iron beams than the Crystal Palace in London, and considering the structural strength, the walls of the first floor do not use full glass walls. Instead, choose to use masonry walls.

The Crystal Palace, which hosted the London World Expo, was demolished as scheduled in 1852. The new Crystal Palace was rebuilt on Sydenham Hill in south London. It would not be completed until 1854. Therefore, the Crystal Palace shopping mall in New York became the only Crystal Palace that existed during this period.

At this time, the shock left by the first World Expo is still there, so there are many spectators who travel thousands of miles from Europe to New York to watch the Crystal Palace shopping mall in New York.

Shocking, this is the first impression that New York's Crystal Palace shopping mall gave Fillmore, and he felt it was worth it to be able to cut the ribbon for such a New York spectacle.

Liang Yao can always bring him some new tricks and unexpected surprises.

"Mr. Liang, thank you very much for your willingness to spend a lot of money to build the Crystal Palace, and to build the Crystal Palace into a long-standing shopping mall, so that the citizens of New York can experience shopping in this miracle of industrial civilization every day. This is a genius idea."

Paxton extended his hand enthusiastically, shook hands with Liang Yao and said.

Paxton is now Prince Albert, the best friend of Queen Victoria's husband. He won another £5000 reward from the British Empire for designing the Crystal Palace.

"Only a genius designer like you can make a genius-like idea come true, otherwise, no matter how good the idea is, it's just a loft in the air." Liang Yao said looking at the magnificent Crystal Palace shopping mall.

There is a glass corridor around the main building of the Crystal Palace in New York, which is a project that Paxton failed to commit to the construction of the Crystal Palace in London, and finally realized in New York.

"Get ready to start cutting the ribbon." Fan Daze couldn't wait to hand over a pair of exquisite scissors.

For this day, he has been waiting for two full years. When the Crystal Palace was still under construction, he often ran to the construction site, eagerly looking forward to the early completion of the shopping mall.

"Your Excellency, please." Liang Yao made a gesture of invitation to Fillmore.

With a full smile, Fillmore solemnly took the scissors from Van Darzer and said, "It is my honor to be able to cut the ribbon for the Crystal Palace mall."

Immediately, Fillmore cut the ribbon in front of dozens of cameras that had already been set up, and then took a group photo with Liang Yao and others in front of the gate of the Crystal Palace shopping mall.

This scene made Stuart, who came to inspect the Crystal Palace shopping mall, very jealous. He had invited the governor of New York State to cut the ribbon for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Marble Palace, which made him very proud at the time.

As for the Crystal Palace shopping mall, the president personally came to cut the ribbon. Not only local New York celebrities such as Fish, Backhouse, and Vanderbilt joined in the show, but even the Rothschild family and the Baring family, such European wealthy families, sent representatives to the scene. The Crystal Palace mall can be said to have earned enough face and gimmicks.

After the group photo was over, Fillmore and others couldn't wait to express that they wanted to enter the Crystal Palace shopping mall, which made Fan Daze feel very embarrassed. Fan Daze approached Liang Yao and whispered to Liang Yao: "There are tens of thousands of customers outside the Crystal Palace. How to do?"

Liang Yao looked at the endless New York citizens who couldn't wait. It was obviously inappropriate to put all these people into the shopping mall at once.

Fillmore is now the president, so he has to consider Fillmore's safety, but the New Yorkers outside can't make them feel slighted, and the shopping mall also needs popularity. After a little thought, Liang Yao said: "Let's put two Thousands of citizens came in, and the mall will be fully open after these distinguished guests have left. Notify the security personnel of the mall to maintain the order of the scene extremely well."

Fan Daze said little by little: "I see."

Liang Yao led Fillmore and others through the gates of the Crystal Palace shopping mall and the mall under the logo of the Americas Group, and walked into the interior of the Crystal Palace.

Because the dome and the walls above the second floor are made of glass, the interior of the mall is very well lit and looks very spacious.

Fillmore was amazed and asked curiously, "How much did you spend to build this magnificent palace?"

"US$280 million." Liang Yao replied, he was also very satisfied with the effect of the Crystal Palace.

280 million US dollars. Fillmore lamented that Liang Yao, a gold tycoon, is still very wealthy, which is almost equivalent to the annual fiscal revenue of a medium-sized state.

In fact, the cost of the Crystal Palace could have been lower, but because the cast iron prefabricated components at the joints could not be produced by local manufacturers in the United States, they could only be purchased from British manufacturers at a high price.

In addition, the triangular roof system adopted by the Crystal Palace shopping mall, the integrated drainage system integrated into the building structure, and the curtain wall shutter design of the ventilation system are all patents held by the British. Liang Yao paid a sum of money to the British side for this. A lot of patent royalties.

Of the US$280 million cost, at least US$30 was earned by British businessmen.

Technology and patents are money, which had begun to emerge in the mid-19th century.

Backhouse, who has always had a bad relationship with Liang Yao, also smiled from ear to ear when he visited the Crystal Palace shopping mall. He was in a very happy mood. He even looked at Liang Yao with a lot of kindness, and this Liang Yao was not so flattering. People hate it.

Why Backhouse is so happy? Liang Yao also knows well. The unprecedented popularity of the Crystal Palace mall in New York on the first day of opening also shows that Liang Yao's business plan to build a business district in New York and open a comprehensive shopping mall is a success.

The land prices around the Crystal Palace shopping mall are bound to skyrocket, and the owner of the surrounding land is Backhouse.

Backhouse can be said to lie down and become a winner.

"Mr. Backhouse, don't forget the gambling agreement we signed back then. I think you are ready to give me 2 acres of land in Manhattan now." Liang Yao teased Backhouse.

When buying the 5-acre land under his feet, Backhouse asked for a unit price of 20 US dollars per acre. In the end, Liang Yao and Backhouse signed a gambling agreement.

Liang Yao bought the 15 acres of land from Backhouse at a unit price of 5 US dollars per acre. Within four years, the land price around the business district could not rise to 24 US dollars per acre. Backhouse was paid an additional $5 per acre for the five acres purchased.

On the contrary, Backhouse needs to give Liang Yao two acres of land in the Manhattan area free of charge.

Now the land price in Manhattan has risen to 22 US dollars per acre. After the Crystal Palace shopping mall is put into operation and the surrounding supporting facilities are completed, the land price in Manhattan, which is the core area of ​​New York, will rise to 24 US dollars per acre. It is a breeze.

Backhouse now has 23 acres of land in Manhattan, and if Liang Yao is given 2 acres, he still has 21 acres of land. In exchange for two acres of land, the remaining 21 acres of land will increase by more than 4 US dollars per acre. Everything Buckhouse would wake up from a dream.

Already in Backhouse's mind, he was happy to build more houses in Manhattan and collect more rent.

"I will donate 2 acres of land in the Manhattan area according to the agreement, and you can choose the land." It was the first time that Buckhouse was so polite to Liang Yao, and then Buckhouse said to Liang Yao again.

"Very good, our win-win cooperation this time can be said to be a model of business cooperation in New York." Liang Yao was also in a very happy mood.

In this way, plus the deed tax paid to the New York government, he actually won 11 acres of land in Manhattan, New York at a price of 7 US dollars per acre, which is almost half the market price.

He is also a large landowner in New York now, owning 7 acres of land in New York, which is still in Manhattan. This is something he could not have imagined in the 21st century, but it was realized in the middle of the 19th century.

Moreover, these land assets are not dead assets. It is quite easy to use the land in New York as collateral to get a part of the loan from the bank as working capital.After all, New York land is now the most valuable land in America.

"General Liang, are you interested in building business circles in Boston and Philadelphia? I also have land in the core areas of Boston and Philadelphia. If you want to build shopping malls in other big cities, please be sure to contact me for cooperation. I can provide you with free Enough land!" Backhouse swallowed and said to Liang Yao, his eyes were full of expectation when he looked at Liang Yao.

Backhouse, who has enjoyed success in New York, hopes to find success in other big cities.

There is a successful case in New York, sending Liang Yao some land to drive up the price of the land around him, this deal is very cost-effective no matter how you look at it.

The Astor family, which has always been famous for its stinginess in New York, took the big city land as a treasure, and took the initiative to give Liang Yao the big city land move, which surprised Fish and Vanderbilt who were on the side, and felt very incredible.

If New York is the only super first-tier city in the United States, Philadelphia and Boston are the second-largest first-tier cities in the United States after New York.

Although the land prices in Philadelphia and Boston are not as high as in New York, they are definitely not low. The land in these two cities is also a favorite in the real estate industry.

In Sacramento, Liang Yao cut off gold worth millions of dollars from Buckhouse's son John. This is well known in the New York business community.

As the so-called representative of the old New York aristocracy, Buckhouse, the helm of the Astor family, also showed his attitude towards Liang Yao. Now not only the New York upstarts headed by Vanderbilt recognized Liang Yao, but even the old New York aristocracy also recognized and accepted him. Leung Yao.

(End of this chapter)