Business central

It has more than 30 hectares of floor space and is home to world-famous names from various industries.

You can go down the list United States-based architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo, Britain's Bennoy architects, luxury hotel giants Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott, financial titan Deutsche Bank, Taiwanese department store Shin Kong Mitsukoshi and world-leading real estate management consultants FPDSavills and Debenham Tie Leung DTZ.

Such premier companies, whether acting as designers, tenants or residential managers, help make China Central Place a landmark complex in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD).

"All we pursue is quality," says Fang Chao, general manager of Guohua Real Estate, developer of the property, "Our development meets international standards with an investment of up to 8 billion yuan."

China Central Place includes luxury apartments, a business sector exclusive to well-known global brands, office buildings and grounds designed by San Francisco-based landscape architecture firm EDAW.

Located along Chang'an Avenue at the core of the CBD, it sprawls across nearly 1.5 million square meters and has a gross floor area of 900,000 square meters.

Three premium intellectual office high-rises are supplemented by a group of mid-size offices with 100 to 700 square meters of commercial space suitable for mid-size corporations seeking growth and globalization.

Though Fang is optimistic about the future of the China Central Place, some insiders question whether the luxury complex can make money for Guohua.

An official from Beijing's Construction Committee, who asks to remain anonymous, says mushrooming business centers may result in overcapacity.

"Financial Street, located at the western part of Chang'an Avenue the longest and most famous street in downtown Beijing and business facilities springing up in East Beijing's CBD have made the supply surge sharply in recent years," says the official

Statistics from property consulting house Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) show the vacancy rate of Beijing's office buildings reached 14.2 percent during the fourth quarter of last year, up 3.7 percent over the previous quarter. The vacancy rate of high-end apartments hit 24.6 percent, an increase of 2.4 percentage points.

Fang says all apartments at China Central Place have to date sold out at a price of 15,000 to 16,000 yuan per square meter.

The international luxury apartments come with a central water garden, greenery and various landscape designs.

In early March, Re-plus Inc of Japan, a real estate investment company, formed a joint venture with Guohua to buy two of its office buildings. The office space, with gross floor area of 124,000 square meters, was priced at $2,500 per square meter. Total value of the transaction was about 2.4 billion yuan.

The offices have been offered on the rental market at a price of 240 yuan to 280 yuan per square meter per month.

Fang insists that prices will not be lowered and forecasts they will be welcomed due to the facilities and services provided.

The Chinese mainland's first directly operated Ritz-Cartlon Hotel, its fifty-seventh around the world, and the JW Marriott Hotel will together provide around 900 suites.

Taiwanese high-end department store Shin Kong Mitsukoshi will open its first mainland store at China Central Place this year.

Anna Kalifa, head of Research for JLL's Beijing operations, says that more tenants prefer new projects due to humanistic designs and modern facilities and are not that price sensitive.

Fang says he is proud his company is taking a lead in environmental protection. In addition to greenery and water features, a string of new technologies have been introduced to limit pollution, which not only add value to the complex but also contribute to the overall environment of the Beijing CBD.

Innovations include lithium bromide technology to absorb heat in summer to help with cooling, a self-recycling heating system that replaces traditional systems in commercial facilities and cooling water from a thermoelectricity generating plant that is used for the water garden.

To help conserve energy, the central government has rolled out specific regulations on real estate development to set standards and help with environmental protection on residential building design and construction.

According to information from the Ministry of Construction, energy consumed by the construction sector uses around 30 percent of the national total, ranking it as the top consumer among various industries.

Nationwide, energy consumed per square meter for heating and cooling is double or triple that of developed countries with similar climatic conditions.

At China Central Place, energy expense per unit is lower than the average in developed nations, according to official measurements.

China Central Place also rents the majority of its space, offering only a small proportion for sale.

"That is to facilitate unified management and guarantee our service quality," says Fang.

(China Daily 04/16/2007 page5)