Hongkong Land Buys $745M Nanjing Site for $1.9B Commercial Complex

Hongkong Land on Wednesday won a tender to develop a plot of commercial land in Nanjing, the capital of eastern China’s Jiangsu province, for RMB 4.8 billion ($745 million). The Hong Kong developer best known for The Landmark complex in Central had targeted the site in Nanjing’s Qinhuai district back in September, when it announced plans to invest RMB 13 billion ($1.9 billion) in a commercial project, according to an article posted on the municipal government’s website.

As the unit of Jardine Matheson develops its new project in the one-time Chinese capital, it may find some familiar faces in the neighbourhood. The site in the city’s Xinjiekou central business area sits adjacent to the Nanjing International Finance Center developed by fellow Hong Kong firm Sun Hung Kai Properties. Hongkong Land’s newly acquired 32,300 square metre (347,674 square foot) site with a floor area ratio of 9.25 is to be developed as commercial and office properties.

Building a New Business Centre in Nanjing

Hongkong Land plans to develop the site into a 318-metre (1,043-foot) skyscraper housing a 260,000 square metre (2,798,617 square foot) financial centre. The developer says it will invest RMB 13 billion into the project, targetting finance firms and other high-end industries as tenants. The land price works out to RMB 18,461 per square metre of above ground GFA.

Under the tender requirements, the developer of the land must build at least 30,000 square metres of commercial space. The winner of the plot can also build serviced apartments, taking up no more than 20 percent of the project’s gross floor area. The government also stipulated that only companies ranked among the Fortune Global 500 were eligible to bid for the parcel.

Hongkong Land acquired its piece of Nanjing after several earlier attempts to develop the site had failed. A section of the property had been the subject of failed development efforts by four previous builders in the last 13 years. Last November, the local government revealed a plan to buy back that land and consolidate it with a vacant neighbouring site to form Hongkong Land’s new prize.

Hongkong Land Ramps Up Mainland Portfolio

Hongkong Land’s Nanjing acquisition comes as the old-school Hong Kong developer has been ramping up its mainland portfolio.

Earlier in November, the company opened the $1.1 billion shopping mall WF Central in Beijing, its first retail project in China’s capital. The blue-chip builder is also working on a commercial project in Shanghai’s Qiantan area.