Gordon came to the office of his boss, Laurence Kadoorie, handed over a letter, and said: "Boss, this is a letter from Cheung Kong Holdings to you."
Kadoorie said unexpectedly: "Is this Lin Zhichao determined to get that property?"
It turned out that a week ago, Lin Zhichao proposed to acquire the ownership of the Hong Kong Hotel in the name of Cheung Kong Holdings, and the two parties communicated through letters.
Naturally, Kadoorie did not agree and wrote back stating that he had no intention of selling the property. In Kadoorie's view, the Hong Kong Hotel could still generate profits, unlike the residential land previously sold to Cheung Kong Holdings, which could only collect a small amount of rent every year. He felt that idleness was also idle, so he sold it to Cheung Kong Holdings. .
Gordon said: "She must be eager to get it! After all, Global Shipping Lines is very wealthy. As the boss, Lin Zhichao is naturally rich."
Kadoorie made no comment, then tore open the letter and read it.
'Willing to acquire at a high price', 'and can lease it to a Hong Kong hotel for three years at a very low price for the hotel business'
After Kadoorie read the letter, he suddenly felt a little relieved. He was not interested in real estate; and he also knew that the Hong Kong Hotel had lost its competitiveness in Central and its decline was inevitable because the hardware in all aspects was not good.
"They said they are willing to purchase the property rights at a high price and rent it to us for three years at a very low price to continue operating the hotel. Do you want to consider it?" Kadoorie asked Gordon.
Gordon did not answer the question directly, but said: "Cheung Kong Industrial is so fond of this land that it may want to build a headquarters building as the headquarters of its subsidiary companies. If it is rebuilt, it can be built like the 'Lishan Building' completed this year. 'The value of such a beautiful building has indeed increased a lot."
The 'Second Generation' Alexandra Building is a property redeveloped by Hongkong Land this year. It is located at 16-20 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong Island, with 6 Ice House Street to the east and 5-17 Des Voeux Road Central to the south. It is a triangle area of prosperous land.
At present, in Hong Kong, high-rise commercial buildings are allowed to be built, but they only need to obtain administrative approval; for example, the Bank of China Building (the former site of the City Hall photographed in 1947), which was completed in the early 1950s, is 17 stories high, which is 6.5 meters higher than the HSBC Bank. (HSBC Bank only has 12 floors plus basement).
Kadoorie nodded and said, "It makes sense. If it is built into a ten-story commercial building, the value will be greatly increased."
Since the Hong Kong government has not yet encouraged high-rise development, there may be restrictions on building buildings that are too high. Therefore, Kadoorie did not expect to build higher. In fact, no one in Hong Kong could imagine at this time that the Hong Kong government would amend the building regulations to encourage high-rise buildings.
Gordon saw this and asked, "What do you mean, boss?"
Obviously, he saw that the boss wanted to get in touch, and if he could really sell it at a high price, the boss would agree. After all, the core industries of the Kadoorie family are the electrical industry and the Peninsula Hotel. It is possible to sell this land at a high price to develop the electrical industry.
As expected, Kadoorie said: "In that case, I will reply to them and let them submit an offer to see their sincerity! The land in Central has maintained its value even during the war; now that the war is over, the tide should naturally increase. "
"Well, boss, please reply and I'll hand it to them."
For commercial land in Central, even during the Peninsular War, the unit price was around HK$300 per square foot, which was higher than the auction price in 1947.
Now, the Kadoorie family feels that according to the market price, the unit price of the property land in Central is HK$350 to HK$400 per square meter; however, he has no intention of selling it at this price unless he can get a higher price.
At the same time, renting to a Hong Kong hotel for three years at a low price is also a temptation, provided the price is low.
The other side.
Lin Zhichao was in the office, looking at Kadoorie's reply, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Just interested in selling!
To put it bluntly, if Kadoorie opens his mouth like a lion, how high a price can he charge?
You simply lack imagination!
As for Lin Zhichao, he analyzed that the land of the Hong Kong Hotel would reach a price of more than 30 million Hong Kong dollars in 1957, which was the amount spent by the Xu Aizhou family in their previous life.
Although it is impossible for him to agree to such a high price now, it still gives him a lot of room for quotation; after all, if he waits until then, Lin Zhichao may face a bidding war with Xu Aizhou, giving the Kadoorie family a bargain.
Referring to the past life at this time, the Kadoorie family sold a large residential plot of land to Airship Tai, which shows that Kadoorie did not know much about real estate and had no intention of investing in real estate.
After various psychological analyses, Lin Zhichao still decided to offer a 'sky-high price', defeating Kadoorie's psychological defense in one fell swoop. After all, if I give the market price, others will think that I run the hotel well, so why should I sell it?
The information about this land has been roughly introduced by Kadoorie. The total area is 26,000 square feet.
Lin Zhichao decided to quote a price of HK$460 per square foot, which is a total price of HK$12 million. At the same time, he agreed to rent it to the Hong Kong Hotel for another three years, charging only HK$500,000 in rent per year.
Generally speaking, it is 30% higher than the market price. It is like betting that this number can rise next year. It also gives Kadoorie the impression that after the war, real estate will probably rise by this number.
Lin Zhichao's mental limit is within 15 million Hong Kong dollars. If it is higher, then he can only give up and use the funds to buy oil tankers. He can make more than double the money in three years, and then participate in the bidding for this land at a high price.
Although he and Xu Aizhou maintained a good relationship, business was business and only the one with the highest price could get it.
In mid-December, Lin Zhichao and Kadoorie finally sat together. After a month of communication, the two parties finally reached an agreement and were ready to complete the signing.
The two of them were not familiar with each other, just a simple business relationship. In fact, this time Kadoorie was able to show off to Lin Zhichao.
Why do you say this?
Kadoorie saw that Lin Zhichao was interested in his property and was determined to get it, so he took the opportunity to ask for a price. In the end, Lin Zhichao asked for 12 million, and Kadoorie asked for 13.8 million. After a confrontation, the price fell to 13.2 million Hong Kong dollars.
For Lin Zhichao, this price actually felt like a profit. According to his analysis, land prices in Xiangjiang were likely to rise by 50% in 1954 alone. Due to the political influence, hot money from Southeast Asia has fled to Hong Kong. Coupled with the end of the war, Hong Kong's land has increased at an annual rate of about 50%. Even in 1954, there was no news that the Hong Kong government intended to encourage the development of high-rise buildings.
Therefore, the price of 13.2 million Hong Kong dollars was almost the price at the end of 1954. Lin Zhichao did not feel that it was a loss. After all, he was the one who initiated the transaction.
However, if this transaction price is disclosed, Lin Zhichao may soon be labeled as "taken advantage of", "weirdo" and other indecent titles, and be laughed at by his business colleagues.
So as soon as they met, Lin Zhichao said: "Mr. Kadoorie, please don't reveal the details of this transaction." After speaking, he showed a wry smile.
Kadoorie felt happy, thinking about young people, you also know that this is a disgraceful thing!
However, he still said seriously: "Of course, the details of this transaction should be kept confidential." The topic changed, and he got a bargain and said obediently: "But having said that, this property is the best location in Hong Kong. Mr. Lin can afford it." It’s worth it! If Mr. Lin hadn’t insisted on buying it, I wouldn’t have planned to sell it. I know that Mr. Lin wants to build a beautiful headquarters building as the headquarters of Global Shipping, so I think I should grant it to you!”
When Lin Zhichao heard this, he thought to himself, you really would think, how could this building be the headquarters building of Global Shipping? It is not a coastal building.
Of course it's called 'Yangtze River Group Center'!
"Then thank you Mr. Kadoorie for making it happen! Indeed, I plan to build a first-class building here." Lin Zhichao said calmly.
Kadoorie said with some suspicion: "Since Mr. Lin is planning to build a first-class building, why is he willing to rent it to us at a low price for three years?"
Although he felt that he had 'slaughtered' Lin Zhichao, he still felt a little uneasy. You must know that Lin Zhichao could build a huge fleet at a young age, so he was considered a figure after all!
Lin Zhichao smiled bitterly and said: "It's not because of funds. Mr. Kadoorie doesn't know something. The shipping industry has always been short of money. So taking it slow will help fund allocation and avoid problems."
When he said this, Kadoorie, Gordon and others immediately felt relieved.
Kadoorie said: "Indeed, I also know that shipping is a big investment. A ship can buy a small or medium-sized building."
Subsequently, Kadoorie and others took the initiative to formally sign the contract.
The contracts were signed in two phases. The first contract was for the ownership transaction of the Hong Kong Hotel, and the second contract was for the rental property transaction of the Hong Kong Hotel.
If the rent is based on 50 years for one year, it will take Lin Zhichao more than 26 years to repay the capital, so it is said to be rented to the Kadoorie family for three years at a very low price.
Of course, for Lin Zhichao, he could still make some money by renting it to the Kadoorie family from 1954 to 1956; if he had not rented it out, he would have started building buildings in the late 1950s.
Although the development of buildings to high-rise buildings was encouraged in 1955, Lin Zhichao could not build commercial buildings too early. The first was the problem of construction technology level, the second was the problem of tenants, and the third was that real estate must be developed into real estate ( Residential)' Let's talk about it after making a wave of funds.
Regarding the issue of tenants in particular, it was probably in the late 1950s that Hong Kong attracted major companies from around the world to set up branches and offices in Hong Kong, so office buildings in Central were relatively easy to rent at that time.
Witnessed by the lawyer, the two parties completed the signing, and Lin Zhichao also handed over a check.
After deducting the first year's rent, the total is HK$12.7 million, equivalent to less than US$2.3 million.
All this money is allocated from the accounts of Global Shipping, and Global Shipping should be able to have a cash flow balance of about US$4.5 million this year.
"Happy cooperation, Mr. Kadoorie!"
"Happy cooperation, Mr. Lin!"
In fact, how can cooperation be happy!
Lin Zhichao, who returned to the company, was thinking about his strength in real estate in the office.
The land properties he owns include:
Causeway Bay (commercial and residential): Paterson Street 'Half Street (215,000 square feet)', Yee Wo Street and the 'triangle area' of Paterson Street and George Street, Kende (36,000 square feet), Xiyun The whole street (156,000 square feet), the embassy building
Central (commercial buildings): The Hong Kong Hotel on Pedder Street (26,000), 9 Chiu Lung Street (14,000), 77 Des Voeux Road Central (16,000), 10 Ice House Street (9,000)
Kowloon (commercial and residential): Yau Ma Tei Public Square Street (172,000), Miramar Hotel opposite Kowloon Park (88,000)
In addition to these large properties, Cheung Kong also owns a small number of small properties and land; including a land of more than 20,000 square feet in North Point, which together with the embassy building is owned by Uniqlo clothing company.
All properties added together have a total value of about 45 million.
Although it is still far behind Global Shipping's net assets of about HK$300 million, it still gives Lin Zhichao a lot of peace of mind.
At this time, no one in Hong Kong knows the specific assets of Lin Zhichao. Even HSBC does not know how many ships he owns, because when he purchased more than a dozen ships later, HSBC had already paid off a lot of debt; at the same time, there were many Ships are registered in overseas offshore locations such as Panama, mainly to facilitate business with the United States.
In fact, no one in Hong Kong thinks that Lin Zhichao's wealth has surpassed that of Ho Tung, including some of Lin Zhichao's friends. Everyone prefers to believe that Lin Zhichao's wealth should be at the same level as that of established families such as Xu Aizhou.
"Boss, you're busy!" Tang Caiyun walked into the office and said in a joking tone.
It can be seen that she is very happy because Cheung Kong Holdings has added another large-scale property.
Lin Zhichao placed a chair next to his seat and asked Tang Caiyun, who was six months pregnant, to sit down. As Lin Zhichao's career has grown more and more, he has been very 'prepared for a rainy day', which has led to Tang Caiyun and Xu Caiying to take up jobs one after another.
What he fears most is flying. Even with his 'superhuman body', he can't survive that thing, but he still has to fly everywhere for a year.
Lin Zhichao said with concern: "If you are tired from work, you can just stay at home. If anything happens in the company, I will tell you!"
Tang Caiyun stroked her pregnant belly and said, "I don't want it! It's not like you don't know that my job is very easy, I have an assistant, and Yangtze River Industries is still in the preparation stage."
Lin Zhichao nodded. Although Yangtze River Industrial has huge assets, it is relatively idle at work. At present, Yangtze River Industrial has moved into the third floor of Qiuyi Building. It is in the same building as Global Shipping and also occupies the first floor. Uniqlo clothing and hotel departments are all working together.
Tang Caiyun's job is indeed simple. She is still on the remuneration committee. In fact, she is idle, at least for now. He also became Lin Zhichao's assistant and shared an office with him, which was considered a sure status.
However, there is one thing that the two of them have a very tacit understanding about, that is, Tang Caiyun does not interfere in the company's work, only listens, watches and asks, but does not give advice.
Later, Lin Zhichao popularized the strategy of Cheung Kong Industries to Tang Caiyun: "The building purchased this time will probably be built as a first-class Grade A office building in Central in the late 1950s. It will serve as the headquarters of Cheung Kong Group, including Cheung Kong Industries. Headquarters.”
Tang Caiyun listened carefully, and then asked curiously: "Then how do you know when the Hong Kong government will allow high-rise residential buildings?"
She knew that Cheung Kong Holdings should first develop residential buildings and then develop buildings after collecting funds, so that it would be financially healthy.
Lin Zhichao said: "The Governor of Hong Kong once mentioned this to me. I don't know the specific time, but so many people now live in the mountains; at the same time, Hong Kong's industry began to develop, creating many wealthy people and forming market purchasing power. So, it will be within three years. Currently, Changjiang Real Estate is also developing some reconstruction properties, plus rent collection, it will not be a problem to support the company's 20 or 30 people. Don't worry!"
Tang Caiyun nodded, feeling reassured.
According to Lin Zhichao's idea, before the first, second and third reading (passage) of the 'Building Regulations' in 1955, he would plan and cooperate with Li Gaofu's 'Champagne Building' on Kimberly Road. Once the 'third reading' of the Building Regulations was passed , immediately applied for review, and then sold the off-the-plan property, taking the lead in igniting Hong Kong's property market.
Of course, it is inevitable that the "public stall" will fall to Lin Zhichao. After all, the five-story tenement building does not have this problem. Once it involves a residential building with many units on the first floor, the issue of "public stall" must be involved. Public stalls will not be an annoyance to the public in Hong Kong, not to mention that they were later abolished in 2003.
After the sale of Champagne Building, Hong Kong real estate has been ignited, and other real estate projects will be planned at that time.
As for commercial buildings, the land at No. 10 Xuechang Street will be used to build the first commercial building of Cheung Kong Industries in 1956. It is expected to be 17 stories high and will serve as the temporary headquarters building of Global Shipping and Cheung Kong Group.
Lin Zhichao's thoughts were told to Tang Caiyun almost without reservation, just let her keep them in mind.
Shek Kip Mei, Pak Tin Shang Village.
In a wooden house in Bajiapo, the owner Chen San was rummaging around on the bed with a lit 'fire water lamp'. Inadvertently, a small spark splashed into the cotton tire, but it did not cause anyone to be alert.
"Head of the house, what are you looking for? Let the children sleep well!" the wife complained.
There were two beds in a small wooden house. The beds were covered with messy quilts and old clothes, and they were in a mess. Even the environment of the entire wooden house was dirty, and there was a smell in the air.
But hundreds of thousands of people in Hong Kong living in government houses and wooden houses have become accustomed to it. Not only are they poor, but they are also short of water, not to mention that they are tired from work and who wants to clean up.
"I'm looking for my cigarette and want to have a smoke!"
"Over there, why are you smoking so late at night? Go to bed early, we have to go to work tomorrow!"
"I know how to work. If a man doesn't smoke, how can he have the energy to work? It's so troublesome!"
Women just need to shut up!
The man finally found a pack of cigarettes, with only half a cigarette left in it, the half he had already smoked. Although he is a heavy smoker, he does not earn much, so he can only smoke less.
After lighting it and taking a deep breath, the man inhaled the smoke into his lungs and fully felt the taste. He repeated this twice. Looking at the few cigarettes left, he gritted his teeth and put it out, saving it for smoking in the morning.
When the two children smelled the smoke, they dared not say anything in anger. If they complained, their father would bring them up and beat them up again.
It was late at night, everyone was asleep, but the sparks in the cotton tire were burning more and more fiercely. Suddenly, an open flame encountered a flammable object, and a huge fire broke out. The thick black smoke quickly suffocated the four people in the room.
In the end, it was the man who held on.
"Ahem"
Chen San tried his best to open the door and ran out. He looked for water, but found that there was no water at all. When he looked at his wooden house again, it was already in flames.
"Wife, son, come out quickly!"
"Wife and son, come out quickly!"
For a moment, Chen San howled hard, but the only response he received was billowing fire. And time, only less than a minute passed.
"It's on fire"
"It's on fire"
The fire spread quickly, and Chen San could only escape alone. He was very sad but did not dare to speak out. Because he might have started the fire, he wanted to escape as soon as possible, because the fire had already filled dozens of wooden houses and was out of control.
People made shrill screams for help, mixed with "Huo Zhu!" 'Cries and knocks on the door. The residents woke up from their dreams, helped the old and young, and fled for their lives.
Less than ten minutes after the fire started, the fire had spread to Zhongyue. The weather was not beautiful, and a fierce northeasterly wind blew up. The tail of the fire was blown down from the mountainside of Baitian Shangcun, forming a sea of fire. There was a crackling sound from the fire scene, and a thick In the sky, fire was everywhere, and the light of the fire made the whole sky red.
Soon enough, the fire had spread to Baitianzhong. Although the fire brigade personnel worked desperately to put out the fire, the fire had spread in all directions. The pungent flames and scorching sea of fire could not withstand the northeast wind. , the fire rushed down the mountain like a scourge, forcing the fire brigade personnel to retreat.
By 10 o'clock, the entire Baitian Upper Village had been burned to ashes, and the fire continued to spread to Baitian Lower Village. At first, residents thought the fire would be extinguished soon, so they didn't move anything until firefighters knocked on the door and told them to evacuate. But in order to save their lives in the wooden house closer to the fire, they ran towards the narrow alley before even moving out the cotton tires.
After the entire Shiratian Upper Village and Zhongyue were visited by the God of Fire, the fire had spread to the lower village. More fire started. In less than twenty minutes, the entire Shiratian Lower Village had been burned down. The homeless residents of Zhongyue fled to Baitian Village one after another. Since these lanes were narrow enough to accommodate only five people, there was a huge crowd of people in front of them, making it difficult to escape. The fire behind them was chasing them like wild beasts. The residents standing behind could not escape, so they had to climb up the wooden houses, jump from one wooden house to another, and use the roofs of the wooden houses as a way out. Because the wooden house is not solidly constructed and there are many people on the house, the entire wooden house often collapses. Dozens of fleeing residents, with their people and belongings, also collapse along with the wooden roof. The cries of the residents shook heaven and earth.
With no way out, the residents jumped from one ditch to another ditch as if they had wings, turned around the fire scene, and climbed to the top of Baitian Village to escape.
By about 11 o'clock, the fire had spread to Wo Tsai Village, and the villagers of Wo Tsai Village fled to the top of the mountain like the residents of Pak Tin Village. Some residents climbed halfway up the mountain and suddenly rolled down, crying miserably: "I'm going to die!"
At about 11:10, most of the wooden houses in Wozi Village had been burned down. Then another fire started burning at the wooden houses in Tai Po Road Village, and the residents here fled again in chaos.
At 11:10, the Shek Kip Mei Fire Station issued an emergency fire alarm, and firefighters asked residents to evacuate. In an instant, the fire had spread to Shek Kip Mei Village.
The fire department personnel were scattered around the edge of the fire scene, raising their axes and splitting the door of the wooden house there. They worked hard to open the door, went in and moved a few things out, but the flood-like fire rushed back, and the things moved out were destroyed again. Vulcan burns away.
(End of chapter)
