Chapter 578 Hong Kong's first commercial complex
Chapter 578 Hong Kong's First Commercial Complex
After arranging the acquisition of Wharf Holdings, Zheng Zhijie and Fang Xianming immediately went their separate ways and went to the United States together, one to find Wall Street and the other to find Bei Jinming;
After things have progressed, Yang Wendong will also decide on the next steps;
Time soon came to June 6th. It was a rainy day and Yang Wendong slept in for a rare time. However, he was soon woken up by several children.
"Daddy, get up, let's go shopping together." The children shouted excitedly;
Yang Wendong couldn't sleep, so he had to get up. After washing up, everyone set off for Central together.
The Yang family's journey during their break was very simple. They just walked around Central. However, they encountered a problem: it was raining outside, so they had to walk in the rain, and the wind was quite strong.
"The children are all a little wet. Change their clothes later to avoid catching a cold." Su Yiyi reminded them quickly.
The Bai sisters quickly agreed.
Yang Wendong said: "It is indeed troublesome to go shopping on a rainy day."
In fact, they could also travel by car, but the two buildings in Central are very close, and walking is the fastest way. If they go to the underground garage to take a car and then gamble on the way, it will be ten times slower. Moreover, shopping requires uncertainty, and you cannot go wherever you want, which is obviously impossible with a car.
Bai Yushan said, "I heard that Hong Kong Land is planning to build pedestrian bridges between more than a dozen commercial buildings in Central, and then connect all the shopping malls together. At that time, it will be much more convenient."
"This method is indeed good." Yang Wendong nodded.
Historically, in the 70s, Hong Kong Land had a big move, which was to connect more than a dozen commercial buildings in Central. For this purpose, it even considered exchanging buildings with Wheelock Properties. Once successful, with so many shopping malls connected together, all customers would naturally prefer to visit this shopping mall, which would inevitably increase customer flow and rental income.
It was a pity that Wheelock disagreed, which caused half of Hutchison Whampoa's plan to fail. This even led to a strained relationship between Jardine Matheson and Wheelock. The British capital was not entirely united, and there were also conflicts of interest.
Bai Yujie said: "Actually, I still like the model of Changxing Plaza, but it's too small. It would be better if it were a little bigger."
"Haha, then we'll build a big one." Yang Wendong said with a smile, "Let's build a shopping mall that is several times bigger than Changxing Plaza, with food, drinks, and entertainment. This way, it will be no worse than the pedestrian bridge plan of Future Land."
"Really? But we don't have enough territory in Central, right?" Bai Yushan asked.
Even though the Changxing Group is now one of the top financial groups in Hong Kong, it has a very short history. When it started out, most of the land in Central had already been owned by others.
Although part of it was acquired in 67, there was no large tract of land to build a large shopping mall.
"Even if it's Landmark Land, it can't come up with such a large piece of land in Central. Even the Hong Kong government may not be able to do it." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "But why should we build in Central? There are large areas of land in other places.
Besides, from a business perspective, many of Hong Kong’s properties are already very successful in Central. If we were to do similar business nearby, we would be asking for trouble. There is no need to go through so much trouble.”
Although Chinese capital often looks down on the operating level of British capital, when it comes to property rental, Swire Properties is the absolute king. Shopping mall operation is also its strong point, and most of its tenants are also Chinese.
After decades of joint efforts from all parties, the shopping mall operations of Jardine Matheson in Central have become impregnable. There is nothing wrong with occasionally participating a little, as it is just collecting rent anyway. However, even if there is land here and a large commercial plaza is built, even if there will be business, it will not be cost-effective to compete with the mature Jardine Matheson.
Besides, his future goal is to acquire the land. Now that the shopping mall has been built, the future will be about internal consumption.
Therefore, it may be more appropriate to invest in other places. After all, Harbour City is also on the Kowloon Peninsula, but it can also become the No. 1 shopping mall in Asia in the future.
"Where are you going to build it?" Bai Yushan asked again.
Yang Wendong thought about it and said as he walked, "There is a large piece of land at the exit of the Hung Hom Tunnel on Hong Kong Island. Maybe we can consider it."
When the company acquired the development rights for the Hung Hom Tunnel in 67, it also took the opportunity to acquire a lot of land on both sides of the tunnel, which was still commercial in nature.
This operation made countless people jealous in the past few days, but no one was jealous, because the future of Hong Kong was uncertain at that time, and daring to invest in this way would be taking huge risks. The greater the risk, the higher the return today.
Yang Wendong was originally not sure how to develop the land. Although he could earn a large sum of cash by building a residential community, it seemed that there were no other benefits besides making money.
Now it suddenly occurred to me that building a large shopping mall would be a good idea. Although the location is certainly not as good as Central, not all shopping malls have to be built in a core location. In its previous life, Wanda had the slogan “Wherever there is Wanda, there is the city center.”
Changxing Group can do the same. The tunnel entrance itself will be a place where traffic and people are concentrated. They can turn the surrounding area into a new commercial center and a residential area, which is killing two birds with one stone.
"The entrance to the tunnel? That's not bad. It's also on Hong Kong Island and close to the sea, but no one has developed it before." Bai Yushan followed.
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I just said this casually. I'll discuss it with the people in the company to see if it's okay."
"Whatever real estate Changxing Group wants, it will definitely be possible." Bai Yujie said with a smile.
Yang Wendong laughed and said, "Haha, Yujie still speaks the best."
With the strength of Changxing Group today, this statement is true. As long as the geographical location is not too bad or there is a lack of water, the energy of Changxing Group can definitely drive the economy of a place. If real estate alone is not enough, then build a factory, or two or three.
Of course, the entrance of the Hung Hom Tunnel naturally has a huge flow of people, so as long as the real estate facilities are sufficient, there will generally be no problems.
……
A few days later, after Zheng Zhijie and Fang Xianmin returned from the United States, Yang Wendong hosted a banquet for them on the rooftop of Changxing Building.
"I like the sunroom here very much. Modern people are very busy during the day and are prone to illness. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, lack of sunlight is the biggest problem."
Yang Wendong said with a smile. Although many aspects of traditional Chinese medicine are not scientifically sound, some of them are still very reasonable, such as Yang Qi, which is unique in many aspects of curing diseases and regulating the body.
The most common lifestyle habit is to bask in the sun and do exercises to raise the body's yang. However, after entering the modern society, neither children nor young people have much time for these.
Yang Wendong still believes in this aspect. At least except for the hottest time in summer, it is really comfortable to be exposed to the sun.
"Yeah, when I think about it carefully, I haven't been able to bask in the sun peacefully for a long time." Zheng Zhijie also said.
As a worker, it is true. He is a senior executive and his office faces south and has sunlight. Ordinary employees or workers have even less chance.
"Have some fruit." Yang Wendong greeted them and asked, "How are things going in America?"
Fang Xianmin first said: "Mr. Yang, I went to the headquarters of Citibank in New York and negotiated with one of their vice presidents. They will send bankers to Hong Kong, ostensibly to conduct investment research.
When the time is right, we will buy a large number of shares of listed real estate companies in Hong Kong. We won’t buy a lot of shares of each company, and we will do it purely in the name of investment. This way, we can openly connect with the shareholders of each company, including those of Wharf Holdings and Hong Kong Land. ”
"Okay, this is a good idea. If we target multiple companies but not too many people in each company, it won't arouse suspicion." Yang Wendong nodded and praised.
For general acquisitions, the target is clear and it is not possible to purchase stocks of other companies. This is a pure waste of funds.
However, because it is clearly optimistic about Hong Kong's future economy, Changxing Financial Company itself is going to acquire stocks of several real estate companies in Hong Kong. In this way, it is now equivalent to entrusting Citibank to purchase a batch of stocks.
None of these companies will lose money in the future, and the core target is Wharf Holdings shares.
"Yes, we will take over all these stocks. Citibank is just a middleman." Fang Xianmin said with a smile: "With this name alone, we can directly contact the shareholders of Wharf Holdings and acquire about 10% of Wharf Holdings' stocks.
After that, if there is an opportunity, we can let Citibank approach Wharf directly for additional share financing. If successful, then our goal will be achieved.”
"If we approach Jardine directly, it will probably arouse vigilance. The senior executives of Jardine are not fools. They will also be wary of American capital." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "But 20% is enough for now. As long as Wharf raises funds in the stock market later, we can seize the opportunity and it will be the same."
The biggest problem with British capital is that real estate management is too conservative. Whether it is selling land or stock financing, it is equivalent to giving money to ambitious people.
Fang Xianmin said: "Okay, then let Citigroup just contact the minority shareholders first."
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded, then looked at Zheng Zhijie and asked, "What did Bei Jinming say?"
Zheng Zhijie smiled and said, "For such a big business, Bei Jinming will naturally agree. He will come to Hong Kong for an on-site inspection in a while.
I also announced that architectural design companies from the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have also responded to the bid. Three months later, it will all depend on whose architectural design offers the best value for money.”
"Okay, then let me see the model when the time comes." Yang Wendong replied.
If it was an ordinary building, he would not care much about it, but this Kang Lok Building will be the headquarters of his company and one of the landmarks of Hong Kong in the future, so he must take a look at it.
"Okay, they will all be sent to Hong Kong in advance." Zheng Zhijie replied.
Yang Wendong added: "There is one more thing. The Hung Hom Tunnel has been running stably and has a large traffic volume, but the business on both sides of the tunnel is too poor, so I plan to build a commercial plaza on the Hong Kong Island side.
The area will be much larger than Changxing Plaza in Central, and it will be a commercial complex with many food, drink and entertainment options, enough for everyone to stay in for many days. "
"Commercial complex?" Zheng Zhijie was stunned for a moment after hearing the name, and asked, "Mr. Yang, what is this commercial complex?"
Yang Wendong explained: "We have many commercial centers in Hong Kong, most of which are in office buildings, right?"
"Yes." Zheng Zhijie nodded.
Many buildings in Hong Kong have commercial buildings on the lower floors, which are filled with businesses and provide places for eating, drinking, and entertainment.
Above are office buildings or hotels, etc., which is also a design to maximize commercial benefits.
Yang Wendong went on to say: "This design is very good, but the single-story area of the building is too small. Even if there are more floors, the number of stores that can be accommodated in a building is limited. Many people don't want to play after playing for a while.
This is also the reason why Swire Properties plans to connect many buildings in Central through pedestrian bridges, so that it will feel like there will be more shops after the connection.
So why don’t we build a professional entertainment center in a large area, such as an area of nearly 10 square feet? With such a large area, it will have everything you need for food, drink, and entertainment.
In this way, the space above the project will not be wasted, and hotels, office buildings, apartments, and even residential buildings can be built around it.
When combined together, it is called a commercial complex. "
……
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(End of this chapter)