Rmb 32b shanghai riverside site expected to draw consortium bids

A mixed-use site in Shanghai’s Xuhui district has been offered for sale with an estimated price tag of more than RMB 30 billion ($4.3 billion), as the municipal government strives to build a 1.8 million square metre (19.4 million square foot) financial hub along the Huangpu River.

The 323,665 square metre site, made up of 28 land parcels between the river’s west bank and Longhua Middle Road, was listed on the Shanghai Land Market last month, according to an announcement on the bureau’s website.

The reserve price for the land sale remains confidential, but bidders are required to pay a security deposit of RMB 6.5 billion ($928 million).

Given that the deposit is generally 20 percent of the total reserve price in Shanghai, the site is expected to fetch up to RMB 32.5 billion ($4.6 billion).

The development, which amounts to more than double the amount of grade A office space in Hong Kong’s Central district, is of a size and scale seldom seen — even in Shanghai.

Interested parties can apply to bid on the site by January 16, and the list of companies qualified to proceed into the tender process will be announced three days later. The final date for the tender’s conclusion has not yet been announced.

The government’s positioning of the site and the terms of the land sale call for developing the built environment for a world-class finance community that will attract the headquarters of financial firms and global investment institutions.

Commercial space is expected to take up around 78 percent of the development’s above-ground gross floor area, which will total nearly 1.1 million square metres.

An additional 710,000 square metres is earmarked for underground space, including 60,000 square metres of commercial floor area.

According to government documents, the site is zoned for 650,000 square metres of offices and 210,000 square metres of retail space, along with another 40,600 square metres ear-marked for cultural and sports facilities.

The residential component total 200,100 square metres, 153,000 square metres of which must be developed into at least 1,187 units of long-term rental housing, including construction of an affordable housing component.

Ref:  Property Report