Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 347 Small-cap stocks pressure large-cap stocks

"Tianfu Huating?"

Secretary Jin noticed the name above the facade drawing.

“Yes.” Chen Xuebing nodded.

He was quite familiar with Chengdu. One of the original names he came up with was "Jincheng No. 1", which corresponded to the name of the Jinjiang District. The plan was to acquire a piece of land in the inner ring area of ​​Chengdu in Jinjiang. In Chen Xuebing's mind, the best place would be the Daci Temple area, which is the area that later became Taikoo Li.

Chengdu Taikoo Li is a legendary project in Southwest China. If Gu'an's name could be associated with Taikoo Li, it would definitely enhance its reputation.

However, the old buildings in the Daci Temple area are not short, and there are still many old buildings that cannot be demolished. If we were to discuss demolition, it would be a big deal.

Chen Xuebing was reluctant to get involved in demolition. He had had enough of his previous life working in civil engineering and fighting against peasant shock troops. He didn't want to get entangled with holdouts and the cultural relics bureau anymore. Anyway, the government would always find a way to demolish and sell the land. So he approached the district government to express his intention, planning to take the opportunity to participate again.

"Tianfu" refers to Tianfu Square, the absolute geographical center of Chengdu.

These two names are very ambitious; they came with the intention of targeting the central area.

But the reality is harsh. There are no suitable plots of land in the first and second ring roads. They are so crowded that it's difficult to build even a single building, let alone a residential community. So we can only look for the best location within the third ring road first.

The name Tianfu can be used to refer to the entire Sichuan province; it can be used anywhere.

The two leaders looked at the renderings of the facade and, to be fair, this kind of building is still quite new in Chengdu.

After the two of them had looked at it, Ren Ying took out the combined elevation and section drawings.

“Director Luo, take a look at our floor plan,” Chen Xuebing said with a smile.

This diagram is not so simple. The sectional and elevation views are drawn based on the plan view and can clearly show the details of the vertical structure, such as the floor height and the location of beams and columns.

There was a silence for about ten seconds.

When Chen Xuebing presented this picture, he was quite confident. Director Luo would know the superiority of their materials once he saw the picture.

But then he suddenly realized
In the eyes of both leaders, something seemed amiss.

Secretary Jin probably couldn't understand it. He glanced at Director Luo, who was staring intently at the blueprints, seemingly lost in thought.

Chen Xuebing paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered
Are the leaders of the Construction Department necessarily able to understand structural diagrams?

That's not necessarily true.

Leaders are those who deal with macro-level issues.

Moreover, Director Luo was transferred from the municipal government.

Chen Xuebing realized the problem and immediately stood up to save face for his leader.

"Haha! You two leaders have rarely seen such blueprints, have you? This is currently the most superior frame-shear wall structure in terms of both commercial and safety performance! Moreover, we are not using a concrete frame! It's a steel frame! It's a very innovative design!"

"Oh." Secretary Jin nodded.

"Hmm," Luo Ting said, stroking his chin and nodding slowly.

Both leaders began to use words sparingly.

Chen Xuebing had no choice but to walk over to the two men and introduce them as potential homeowners:

"Frame structure, like building blocks, mainly relies on beams and columns to form a skeleton to support the entire building. The walls are only used to partition rooms and do not bear weight. The advantage is that the space is large and flexible, and the layout can be changed at will by demolishing walls. It is suitable for low-rise buildings, such as school buildings or shopping malls, but the earthquake resistance is poor and it is easy to sway in strong winds or earthquakes."

"Shear wall structures rely entirely on thick reinforced concrete walls for load-bearing capacity. These walls act like a skeleton and muscles, able to withstand strong winds and earthquakes, making them particularly stable and suitable for high-rise residential buildings. However, the disadvantage is that the walls cannot be demolished, resulting in a rigid space and limited decoration options."

"The frame-shear wall structure is a hybrid of the former two. The frame is responsible for the vertical weight, while the shear wall is responsible for the horizontal force. This structure maintains a certain degree of spatial flexibility and has strong earthquake resistance, making it suitable for mid- to high-rise buildings, such as high-rise apartments or mixed-use buildings."

"Our steel frame shear wall structure uses steel for beams and columns, and steel plates are added to the shear walls. Moreover, it is a special steel produced in our own production, which is lighter than ordinary steel and even lighter than concrete. It is also more resilient. The core load-bearing logic is the same as that of the frame-shear wall structure, but the materials and processes have been upgraded."

"It could even be described as top-tier."

"The coordination between frames and shear walls requires precise calculations. Early design software struggled to simulate their interaction and could not handle the complex force transmission paths of frame-shear wall structures, resulting in relatively high design risks. Moreover, before 2000, concrete strength was generally below C30, and steel reinforcement anchoring technology was immature, making joint areas prone to becoming weak points in seismic resistance. Our country's first code to clearly define the design method for frame-shear wall structures, the 'Code for Seismic Design of Buildings,' only added a dedicated chapter on frame-shear wall structures in the 2001 edition. Therefore, this structure has only been used in recent years, and in small quantities. Most design engineers prefer to choose the more technologically mature shear wall or frame structures."

"I would say that in Chengdu today, residential buildings mainly inherit the technology from the 90s, with prefabricated brick and concrete structures as the main type."

"For example, the Jin Dian Yuan, built in 03, is still a precast brick-concrete structure. Although it uses some reinforced concrete components, its earthquake resistance is relatively poor."

“A few commercial and residential buildings with ground-floor shops, such as Zongbei International on Kehua North Road, were completed in 05 and used a frame structure.”

“We also went to see the buildings in the first phase of Nancheng Duhui, and they are not shear walls, but frame structures.”

"Their structural cost per square meter will not exceed 600 yuan."

"Our frame-shear wall structure costs more than 50% more than theirs. In addition, we use special steel with tensile strength more than twice that of ordinary steel. The amount of steel used per square meter of building area is about 150 kilograms, which makes the structural cost even higher, reaching more than 1200 yuan. There are also design costs. The design engineer has to be on-site to participate in the construction, which makes the cost much higher than theirs. The exterior facade uses a new type of imitation stone coating that is more expensive than acrylic emulsion stone paint. It is definitely a high-end material."

"Safety is guaranteed by materials and structure."

"What we do is truly high-end housing, combining security and spatial autonomy, and is absolutely the benchmark for new types of housing."

In reality, the safety of a frame-shear wall structure is not as good as that of a shear wall structure, and it requires less material.

However, frame-shear wall construction is more difficult and its safety is definitely higher than that of frame structures. Currently, its overall cost is about the same as that of shear walls.

He plans to build frame shear walls in Chengdu and Mianyang to meet the quality of life demands of people in affluent cities, while building steel plate shear walls in other cities to meet safety requirements.

After laying the groundwork, Chen Xuebing smiled slightly and said:
“Our structure and materials can fully support residential buildings of more than 20 stories and a plot ratio of 4.0. If this land is given to us, Gu’an will make it the first high-rise building cluster on the entire street, creating a modern urban image for Chengdu.”

This is the core.

The plot of land owned by Hutchison Whampoa has a floor area ratio of 3.0. If it can be approved to be 4.0, then the same plot of land can be used to build one-third more houses.

The two leaders remained silent for a while.

"Mr. Chen, I heard this is your first time entering the real estate market. The frame-shear structure you mentioned sounds quite difficult. Is your technical team stronger than that of Hong Kong developers?"

Director Luo knew that Chen Xuebing had won the Duwen Expressway project and that Chen Xuebing's company had some technical strength. He asked this question on purpose to support Chen Xuebing and give him a platform.

When Chen Xuebing saw the phone coming, he immediately showed off his skills:
"Hong Kong developers come here, and they also use mainland teams, just with a few experienced designers. Our design team is led by 11 experts and professors from Chongqing Jiaotong University. The entire university's expert team and our exclusive joint venture design company have jointly built a BIM stress structure laboratory. We can not only handle real estate projects, but also design highways and even bridges! The company's general manager is the former director of Gezhouba Power Plant, who has worked on national-level large-scale projects for twenty years. The chief engineer and deputy chief engineer have both worked in the construction industry for more than twenty years. The Second Construction Company of the province we acquired has 80 experts rehired by Huaxi Group. Although we are new to the real estate industry, in terms of talent preparation, we are not inferior to any other private construction company in the country!"

He chuckled softly at the end of his sentence.

"Boss, if I didn't have some serious skills, would I dare to go to Liangshan?"

Even Director Luo was somewhat taken aback after learning the full details of this introduction.

This company has a very aggressive atmosphere.

They all work while building their teams.

This Mr. Chen seems to have entered the industry with a full complement of ruthless and cunning individuals. In a direct comparison, these local real estate companies would be utterly defeated in terms of capital and technology. Secretary Jin also knew that this was a favor the province was trying to do, but there were many eyes watching closely as a plot of land was being offered up, making it a difficult situation.

"There are two difficulties with this matter. One is that it is difficult to get approval for a plot ratio of 4.0. The Nancheng Duhui project is right next to it, and your residential buildings are much taller than theirs, which is not appropriate. The second is that we also lack a commercial complex in the planning of Shiyang Street. If this plot is used for building houses, it will be even more difficult for us to designate new large plots for investment promotion in the future."

Chen Xuebing immediately retorted.

“Secretary Jin, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the issue of plot ratio. The fact that Huang Gan came to make trouble is a valid reason! It’s precisely because of their poor development that residents are having trouble moving in that the district management committee needs a high-density real estate project to attract more people!”

As for commercial entities

He smiled slightly and revealed his second trump card: "Wharf Holdings also acquired a 123-acre plot of land across the street, which hasn't been developed yet, right? I know their chairman, Mr. Wu Guangzheng. How about this, since I'll be representing Shenzhen at a cross-border seminar in Hong Kong next year, I'll ask him about his thoughts. If he also wants to hoard land, I'll buy his plot at a high price and develop it into a commercial complex. This would solve both the development problem of the other plot and the commercial needs of the street. What do you think?"

That statement contains a lot of information.

He knew Wu Guangzheng.

He will also represent Shenzhen at a seminar in Hong Kong.

Isn't he a private entrepreneur?

The two people inside the system are well aware of the seriousness of the issues in Hong Kong. Being able to represent a city with independent planning status to attend a meeting in Hong Kong definitely requires approval from higher authorities.

This is... this is a bit like using power to intimidate others.

"What meeting?" Director Luo coughed and asked with hidden interest.

"It's hard to say right now," Chen Xuebing said mysteriously.

The two leaders exchanged a glance, deciding not to ask any further questions.

Secretary Jin was even less able to refute this.

"The land acquired by Wharf Holdings was originally designated for residential use, but its designation has been changed to commercial."

Need to add money.

It costs several hundred yuan per square meter, and then you have to go through the approval process.

In Chengdu, the selling price of commercial land of the same grade is more than 30% higher than that of residential land, and the land use period is also different.

This time, Chen Xuebing's gaze fell on Deputy Director Luo.

This thing is for construction review, with the land and resources department stamping it.

The special approval process for plot ratio is roughly the same, and this is not something Secretary Jin can decide.

“Um,” Luo Ting was quite adept at business. “This requires the written consent of all the owners with a stake in the matter, and the fire department and environmental protection department also need to stamp it. However, this matter is beneficial to the surrounding owners. As long as your company issues a commitment that the daytime noise level is below 60 decibels and the nighttime noise level is below 50 decibels, the residents should accept it.”

He didn't mention any other review issues, but simply stated that as long as the people agreed, the review would be approved.

Chen Xuebing gave him a grateful look.

Secretary Jin was also pushed away by the two of them.

"Mr. Chen, this is a very important matter. Our management committee still needs to hold a meeting to discuss it. Even if it's a sale by agreement, it still needs to be made public. What price are you willing to accept?"

Chen Xuebing readily agreed, "The management committee makes the offer, I won't haggle."

This isn't a company sale, but a public-private transaction; no one would give him an exorbitant price.

Secretary Jin hesitated for a moment: "You should name a price so I can negotiate."

Chen Xuebing no longer declined: "The auction price of Wharf Holdings in April was 6.4 million yuan per mu, which is a bit too high."

At this point, Secretary Jin frowned.

"But," Chen Xuebing changed his tone, noticing the change in expression, "land prices have risen recently. How about I offer 650 million?"

It increased by 100,000 yuan per mu.

9760 yuan per square meter, 200 mu (approximately 3200 hectares), 13 yuan per square meter, 13 billion yuan.

Secretary Jin believed that this was a price that was satisfactory to everyone.

Chen Xuebing's expenses were planned in advance.

With a plot ratio of 4.0 and a building area of ​​532,800 square meters, there will be a surge in housing prices next year. These are high-end residences, with a starting price of at least 6500 per square meter.

3.46 billion.

After deducting the construction cost of 14.38 billion yuan (2700 yuan per square meter) and the ground cost of 13 billion yuan, there is still 7.22 million yuan left.

Although other construction costs for the community, as well as sales and public relations expenses, are still covered by the cost of the shared area, which is not only sufficient but also leaves a surplus.

If you negotiate well with suppliers, you might earn even more.

However, Chengdu's housing prices are expected to drop significantly after May 2008. Of course, they won't actually drop; with a strong brand, they might sell even better.

If there are any left, he will simply hoard them.

Chengdu's housing prices have a period of explosive growth, with increases of several times over. Although the explosive growth period will be late, the area within the Third Ring Road is the preferred location for long-time Chengdu residents. Houses that cannot be sold can temporarily become part of their assets. When they need money, they can simply exchange them at the bank. Bank valuations can rise at any time, and the liquidity of real estate will be almost equivalent to that of currency for the next 15 years.

Reserves are the biggest source of profit.

Chengdu's commercial value can reach even greater heights.

At this moment, Secretary Jin also had some plans in mind. He really wanted to see if this young man was really as capable as he said, and whether he could use this small project to drive the Nancheng Metropolis next door to a new life.

If Hutchison Whampoa really comes to cause trouble
With the Construction Department and the Land and Resources Department giving this young man the green light, as long as Hutchison Whampoa agrees to develop within a limited time, they can also report and raise the issue of the plot ratio.

The large and small projects have been resolved together. With housing prices high now, selling all these houses will bring in new residents and stimulate commercial development. The GDP of the high-tech zone may also increase next year.

Let's bring it up, everyone should bring it up.

Thinking of this, Secretary Jin became somewhat anxious. He stood up, extended his hand to Chen Xuebing, and said, "Alright! I'll go back and have a meeting, and I'll give you an answer before the holiday!"

"So fast?" Chen Xuebing was slightly surprised.

Director Luo couldn't help but laugh and said, "Isn't speed a good thing? Secretary Jin is the secretary; the work he proposes is naturally efficient!"

Chen Xuebing didn't feel that the work was efficient, but rather that Secretary Jin's attitude changed a bit too quickly. Nevertheless, he still extended his hand to Secretary Jin with a big smile.

Wishing you a successful collaboration!

(End of this chapter)