Chapter 455: Former Site of Central Naval Base

Chapter 455: Former Site of Central Naval Base

Chapter 455: Former Site of Central Naval Base
"Yang Wendong invested heavily in Singapore. Where is the future of Hong Kong's real estate market?"

"With an investment of HK$1 million, Changxing Group intends to build a new investment base!"

“As Hong Kong’s economy declines, why are Chinese financial groups still investing heavily overseas?”

On November 11, when Yang Wendong returned to Hong Kong, various newspapers began to report the incident, involving Yang Wendong, Hong Kong real estate, economy and other issues, and everyone was very concerned.

After all, from January this year to now, when it is almost the end of the year, housing prices in many places have dropped by an average of half, and in better places by 30%. Too many people have suffered heavy losses. Whether they are those who bought at high prices or ordinary people who own property, they all hope that Hong Kong's economy will recover as soon as possible.

"Oh, 100 million Hong Kong dollars! If this money is invested in Hong Kong, the housing prices will probably go up a bit." A middle-aged man sighed after reading the first page after buying a newspaper at a newsstand.

"Old Zhang, don't count on it. Hong Kong's real estate tycoons are no longer investing." A young man next to him laughed, "The Hong Kong government can't even sell land now. It's hard to find someone to buy it, but the Hong Kong government breached the contract and took it back. It's so funny."

Old Zhang said, "Xiao Wang, this matter is not that simple. The person who bought the land is Huo Yingdong, and he has a close relationship with the north."

"Oh." Xiao Wang nodded, and then said: "We don't know about the big shots, but the house prices are indeed too expensive. My shop is full of people selling houses, and there are only a few people buying houses."

"Yes, business is bad. Even the restaurant business is under investigation." Lao Zhang continued, "One hundred million. Give me one thousandth of it and I won't have to work for the rest of my life."

"That's not necessarily true. One hundred thousand now will be worthless in the future." Xiao Wang added, "In fact, buying a house is still the safest option. I just don't know when this wave of house price declines will bottom out."

Lao Zhang said, "If you knew this, you could borrow money and go all in, and you would really make a fortune."

Xiao Wang said: "Stop dreaming and go back to work."

Many people gathered in front of newsstands in Hong Kong to discuss this issue, especially in the Hong Kong Island area. People living here relatively have some assets and own properties, and they are very concerned about the fluctuations in the real estate market.

"It seems that Yang Wendong has determined that Hong Kong's housing prices have not yet bottomed out, otherwise he would have definitely invested in Hong Kong."

"His judgment may not be accurate, right?"

"No one can be accurate, but he cleared out his properties on a large scale in the second half of last year, and then the real estate market tanked at the beginning of this year. Do you think his judgment is trustworthy?"

".That makes sense. Then our company should not think about buying at the bottom for the time being."

In North Point, Li Jiacheng, wearing black-framed glasses, smiled after reading the newspaper and said, "It seems that I don't have to worry about whether to buy the dip now."

"Didn't you confirm that housing prices have not yet reached bottom?" Zhuang Yueming asked in confusion.

"That's exactly what I judged before." Li Jiacheng said, "But I'm not too sure, I just go by my feeling. Now Yang Wendong is investing heavily in Singapore, which means he is not optimistic about Hong Kong real estate for the time being."

“That’s not necessarily true. Just because they invest overseas doesn’t mean they won’t invest in Hong Kong, right?” Zhuang Yueming said with a smile.

Li Jiacheng shook his head and said, "Probably not. For a 1 million investment, even if I can get a loan, I still have to put in to million. Although Changxing Group is large in scale, don't forget their debts in the shipping market. If I were Yang Wendong, I probably wouldn't dare to continue investing heavily in Hong Kong in the short term."

"You are right, but what if Yang Wendong made a wrong judgment?" Zhuang Yueming said again.

Li Jiacheng said: "Maybe, but the real estate market is actually a matter of confidence. Regardless of external or internal or even policy reasons, as long as many people believe that the market will get better, it will get better, and vice versa.

Now that Yang Wendong has invested so much overseas, it will inevitably cause many investors to be pessimistic about Hong Kong real estate. In this way, things that were originally uncertain may become certain. "

"That's true, just like a bank run." Zhuang Yueming nodded.

There have been several bank runs in Hong Kong in recent years. No matter whether the rumors are true or not, once a bank run occurs, it is a real run. If there is no other capital to help, the consequence will be a life-and-death situation. Although Liu Chongxing Bank survived, his family business was completely ruined.

Li Jiacheng went on to say: "Let's just wait and see after a while."

At noon that day, Yang Wendong also read some newspapers from various newspapers to check the reaction of Hong Kong society. As the most financially powerful Chinese consortium in Hong Kong today, every move can affect the Hong Kong economy, so he is also very concerned.

"Ding ding ding~" The phone rang, Yang Wendong pressed the button, and soon the secretary's gentle voice came from the other end: "Mr. Yang, Mr. Zheng is here."

"Let him in." Yang Wendong replied.

After a while, Zheng Zhijie came in and said, "Mr. Yang, the land in Singapore has been delivered. I have notified Bei Jinming's team to go there. They will design our Changxing Plaza and Four Seasons Hotel based on government requirements, land conditions and surrounding buildings."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "But we need to find two supporting actors for this matter, otherwise Bei Jinming will demand a high price."

Although he respected Bei Jinming, the top Chinese architect, business is business and he is also a businessman. If you ask him to quote a price separately, who wouldn't want to take advantage of the prey that has been delivered to your doorstep?
If someone were to do business with Yang Wendong in this way, he would probably do the same, unless it was a long-term business. But you can't expect others to think the same as you do. There are too many people who want to make short-term money. "That's fine. I'll notify the design companies in Europe and Japan." Zheng Zhijie added, "But if this happens too often, and Bei Jinming's team wins the bid every time, it's inevitable that people in the industry will know our routine, and even Bei Jinming will know, which is not good."

"That makes sense." After listening to it, Yang Wendong thought for a while and said, "In that case, the future cannot be entirely handed over to Bei Jinming. For some buildings, we must also give other companies appropriate opportunities.

It’s just that we don’t have many projects at the moment, only these two.”

Just like choosing suppliers in the manufacturing industry, you cannot rely on just one company. This is true in any industry.

"Not necessarily." Zheng Zhijie said, "Mr. Yang, there is something I want to tell you. The Hong Kong government auctioned a piece of land in the middle of the year. This piece of land was previously one of the naval barracks, and it is located in Central.

At that time, the land was bought by Huo Yingdong, but just last month, the Hong Kong government breached the contract and took back the land. Now the Hong Kong government sent someone to ask me if we want it, and they can sell it to us at a lower price. "

"The former site of the Central Naval Base?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "I know this piece of land. You even asked me if I wanted to bid for it."

In the 60s, the proportion of real estate auctions in the Hong Kong government’s fiscal revenue was not as high as in the 80s, but it was still about 20 percentage points. The decline in real estate prices and economic downturn will also lead to a reduction in other taxes. This is an overall effect.

Therefore, at this time, in order to maintain government operations, the Hong Kong government will put up for auction some land with better locations, which can even be said to be at the level of the king of land.

The former Central Naval Site is one of them. It has a good location and an area of ​​3.9 square feet. However, Yang Wendong did not agree at the time because the land price was at its peak and had just begun to decline. It would be a big loss to bid for it. Although the location is good, there is no need to spend nearly million Hong Kong dollars.

Zheng Zhijie replied: "Yes, now that half a year has passed, the land price has dropped by almost 35%. Now the Hong Kong government is short of money and is willing to make some concessions. The secretary of the Governor of Hong Kong wants us to help the Hong Kong government."

"Just our family?" Yang Wendong asked.

Zheng Zhijie said: "No, there is also Jardine Matheson, but Jardine Matheson was obviously not willing and directly rejected it."

"If the price can be reduced by nearly half, then we can consider it." Yang Wendong thought for a while and said, "Well, you go talk to them and ask them to lower the price a little more. If it's suitable, we will buy it and treat it as a favor to the Hong Kong government."

It’s all about price, and if the location is good then even if it’s a little higher than the lowest point in 67, it’s still acceptable.

Of course, it was also because the old site was not in the core area of ​​Central, otherwise he would have taken it even in 64. Although there were buildings for sale in Central in 67, the number was not large, and he would have taken as many as he could at any time, just like the Central properties he had in his hands before, which he did not sell in 64. This was the logic.

Zheng Zhijie agreed and said, "Okay, then I will negotiate with the Hong Kong government and try to get a suitable price."

Yang Wendong added: "In addition to the price, we also need to discuss the construction start time or other restrictions with the Hong Kong government. I don't want these. Give me a piece of land, I will buy it and pay, and then don't worry about me in the future."

Under normal circumstances, there are many requirements for the land auctioned by the government, such as when to start development, when to end development, what the future self-holding rate will be, etc. However, due to the current real estate crisis, the land cannot be sold, so naturally we have the negotiating advantage.

He wanted the land, but he didn't want to develop it now, because it was not cost-effective to spend money to build a building in Hong Kong at this time. It would be better to wait until 67 to buy the land.

"Okay." Zheng Zhijie also understood the reason.

"If we can get this piece of land, then when we want to develop it later, we will follow your wishes and conduct a fair design bidding." Yang Wendong added: "But if Bei Jinming's is still cheap and practical, we can only use it."

"I understand. Everything is based on business rules." Zheng Zhijie said with a smile.

They don't have to choose Bei Jinming, but in order to avoid being cheated, they also have to introduce other candidates appropriately.

Yang Wendong asked again: "Huo Yingdong's land was forcibly taken back. Is there any inside story that outsiders don't know?"

This incident is considered quite shocking in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government actually breached the contract and took back the land that was auctioned. This violated the spirit of the "contract";

Although in Yang Wendong's eyes, the Western spirit of contract is bullshit, and they will use contracts to maintain the rules when there is benefit, and throw it aside immediately when there is no benefit; but for many outsiders, they still believe in it, as if they had been injected with the "Yilin" drug.

Zheng Zhijie said: "It is said that this incident is somewhat related to the Pakistan-India conflict, but I don't know the deeper details, and I didn't ask more."

"Then don't ask, it's none of our business." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "It's really not appropriate to ask too much about this kind of thing, but I have some relationship with Mr. Huo, and now that I have taken his land, I have to tell him about it. So, please make an appointment with him for me to have tea together."

Some things are indeed not obligations, but we are all Chinese businessmen in Hong Kong, and Yang Wendong also respects Huo Yingdong very much, especially when he transported medicine to the mainland more than ten years ago.

If a piece of land is taken away from him and becomes yours, then inform him in advance, because he will know about it anyway.

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)