Hong Kong Island's New Rich Era

Chapter 64: Whampoa Center, the tallest building in Hong Kong
The Huangpu crisis is far from over. It will only be resolved when the real estate market booms next year and Pier 4 opens.

Moreover, it would cost several hundred million Hong Kong dollars to convert the Huangpu dock workers into business, and the Huangpu Group’s business could not be worse.

It gives me a headache just thinking about it. This was my decision at the time, and I had to swallow it with a smile even if my teeth were chopped off. It seems that others think Liu Zhicheng is a rich man, but in fact he is a complete pauper.

“How many projects does Huangpu plan to develop next year?”

"Three."

Hao Qingwen reported: "These three sites are all in good locations, all facing the sea on Hong Kong Island. One is on Des Voeux Road in Sai Wan, and the other is on Wharf Road in North Point. We are planning to build a five-star hotel and create the Whampoa Hotel series brand."

"In that case, we will have three hotel assets in the future. You need to register a hotel management company and form a team to be responsible for the management and operation of the hotels."

In fact, Liu Zhicheng really does not want to develop fixed assets such as hotels, because the first priority of the Huangpu Group now is to reduce debt.

But we have to imagine the future. Hotels are an important supporting facility for high-end commercial real estate, and most importantly, they can be independently listed for financing and development.

"What about the other place?"

"Another place is an old building on Harbour Road in Wan Chai. We plan to demolish and rebuild it into a skyscraper, Whampoa Centre."

"Skyscraper? How tall?" Liu Zhicheng was shocked by Hao Qingwen's plan and couldn't help but ask twice. He is bolder than me and has great ambitions.

Hao Qingwen was also annoyed by his boss' question, and replied softly: "More than 50 floors, a few floors higher than the Connaught Building and the Sun Hung Kai Center which is under construction."

"Haha!" Liu Zhicheng couldn't help but laugh out loud, and everyone in the meeting also laughed.

Just now I thought he had great ambitions, but now it seems that he is extremely ambitious. It seems that Hao Qingwen is determined to compete for the tallest building in Hong Kong.

Hao Qingwen didn't dare to laugh, and remained serious as he said, "Mr. Liu, I think our Huangpu Group also needs a landmark building to consolidate our position."

"Status? What status? Our funds are tight, how are you going to build it?" Liu Zhicheng had to warn Hao Qingwen not to destroy the Huangpu Group.

"The bank has agreed to provide financial support." Seeing that his boss refused, Hao Qingwen still wanted to fight for it.

Liu Zhicheng refused outright, saying, "Don't touch this piece of land on Harbour Road in Wan Chai. I will have a use for it in the future. Let's put this project aside for now."

This piece of land has a good location. To the north is the Golden Bauhinia Square. A convention and exhibition center will be built here in the future, and Liu Zhicheng wants to occupy this location.

When the time comes, we will plan the Huangpu Center skyscraper, which will be closer to the sea, more eye-catching and more meaningful as a landmark.

When Hao Qingwen heard Liu Zhicheng reject his plan outright, he had no objection. He should have expected such a result.

Anyway, if you can strive for it, you should strive for it. If you can’t, it doesn’t matter, because Huangpu still has a super big project: Huangpu City.

Hao Qingwen still has many alternative plans. He immediately said: "If we give up the Whampoa Center project in Wan Chai, we can develop the warehouse in Shau Kei Wan. We have planned high-rise residential buildings."

Shau ​​Kei Wan is located on the east side of Hong Kong Island. It is a seaside sheltered bay and also the earliest industrial area in Hong Kong Island.

Liu Zhicheng looked at the information handed over by Hao Qingwen: "Is the site in Shau Kei Wan adjacent to Taikoo Shing? How much of the Taikoo Shing project has been developed?"

Taikoo Shing is a super real estate project built by the Swire Group using an old shipyard.

Swire Group has been planning since 1973, planning to build hundreds of residential buildings, with about ten buildings in each phase. The entire project will take about ten years. "Now they have completed the first phase of Cuihu Terrace, with a total of eight residential buildings on sale. It is an unprecedented event and they were sold out in a few days."

“How much are their house prices?”

“Between 280 and 330.”

The success of Taikoo Shing indicates that the residential buildings built in Shau Kei Wan will also be successful. Although the location is a bit remote, the pricing of residential buildings built in Whampoa should be the same as that of Taikoo Shing.

Liu Zhicheng thought for a moment and asked, "You want to build two hotels and a residential building. How much does the total investment cost?"

“The site in Shau Kei Wan is relatively large, but we can get money back through pre-sale of uncompleted properties. However, the total investment plan is HK$2 million.”

According to Hao Qingwen's planning documents, twelve high-rise residential buildings and two hotels will be built in Shau Kei Wan, with a budget of HK$150 million to HK$200 million.

This is a big plan, but Huangpu’s cash flow can just cover it now, so it is not a blind plan.

These three projects alone are more than enough for development. However, Huangpu Group also has a Huangpu City plan.

Liu Zhicheng listened to his speech and felt that there was something interesting about the building development projects for sale. So he asked, "How many sites do we have available for development at present?"

Hao Qingwen seemed to have been prepared for this, and blurted out, "We can directly develop it, and there is no need for the 'industrial to commercial' site. In addition to the site we are currently planning to develop, there are still 62.4 sites left, covering an area of ​​ square feet."

Liu Zhicheng looked at the list of land plots. Most of them were located in the prosperous economic circle in the city center, and most of them were located near the sea. They were suitable for development into luxury residential buildings and office buildings. They all had great development value, but the land area was a bit small.

Among all the real estate developers in Hong Kong, apart from Hong Kong Land, Swire, Cheung Kong and Henderson Land Development, Whampoa Group's land reserves should be the largest.

But Li Chaoren's land is mainly in the suburbs and is not as good as that of the Whampoa Group. It should be said that the Whampoa Group has surpassed the Yangtze River Company.

Don't forget that Huangpu also has three large plots of land, which are Huangpu's golden treasures. If all three plots of land are converted from industrial to commercial, Huangpu's land reserves will be among the best.

Liu Zhicheng made a rough calculation in his mind. If he developed three sites every year, in five years, he could have fully developed all the sites except the shipyard (except Huangpu City).

The Hong Kong property market has been on the rise in recent years. As long as the project is developed, making money is no longer a problem.

But then he thought that during this period, he would definitely have to reserve new plots of land and develop Huangpu City, so he agreed to the plan to develop three sites next year.

"Well, with the existing land reserves, we will develop three sites per year. Now, please report on the Huangpu Plaza plan."

"Mr. Liu, the 'industrial to commercial' transformation of Huangpu Plaza has been negotiated, but we don't have the budget to finance it ourselves, so we are currently organizing a bank consortium to provide loans."

"But I have something interesting to report to you, Mr. Liu. It seems that Li Chaoren knows that we are short of funds and has come to us to seek cooperation in development."

Liu Zhicheng thought that Huangpu Group was short of money and would not give this piece of fat meat to others. He smiled and said, "Don't worry about him for now. It should be no problem to get a bank loan for 'industrial to commercial'."

“The bank has agreed to provide us with financial assistance by mortgaging the land, but the development funds are still to be discussed.”

　Please read it! Please read it! Please read it!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)