SHKP, Hutchison get into position as local investors stay on the sidelines
Top Hong Kong developers are competing fiercely for the last prime site in Shanghai's Lujiazui financial district in a widely watched tender that could set the benchmark for the city's sluggish property market.
Property agents said that Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), Hutchison Whampoa and Shui On Land were among the bidders, although more might join before the tender closes on August 29.
Key mainland players that dominated previous tenders are few, weakened by nationwide credit-tightening measures to cool economic overheating. But their foreign competitors are well-financed and appear likely to bid up the plot to near-record levels.
State-owned Lujiazui Finance and Trade Development is inviting bids for the 20,300 square metre parcel dubbed Pudong Plot Z3-2 close to the district's two landmarks - the 420-metre-tall Jinmao Tower and the 508-metre-high Shanghai Global Finance Centre, which is being built by the Mori Group of Japan.
'This is the last major site in Lujiazui and one of the best,' said Cheng Chuan, an Lujiazui Finance official. 'There are fewer than 10 bidders and the winner will decide the mix of commercial and office space.'
The site, now a golf range, will become an office tower more than 300 metres high, giving the winning developer a conspicuous presence on the skyline of Shanghai's 'Wall Street'. The plot ratio will be 9.83.
