Beijing sells land at record high price

A Beijing land parcel has been sold at a price of more than 73,000 yuan ($11,928) per square meter of proposed construction during a land auction, setting a record high, local authorities said.

Sunac China Holdings Ltd. bought the 2.82 hectare parcel on Wednesday for 2.1 billion yuan, with plans to build 59,200 square meters of floor space, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Land and Resources said.

The land is located near the Third Ring Road in Chaoyang District, within walking distance of Chaoyang Park as well as high-end commercial and residential districts.

The company will have to invest more than 2.22 billion yuan for 278,000 square meters of hospital construction elsewhere as a requirement for purchasing the land.

The company, which is listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, spent a total of 4.32 billion yuan on the deal.

The land and resources bureau said a new bid limit and tie-breaking rule was applied in the auction. The starting bid was set at 1.8 billion yuan with the highest bid limited to 2.1 billion yuan. When more than one party was willing to bid the highest price, the bidder willing to spend the most on hospital construction won the auction.

The government set the standard hospital construction cost at 8,000 yuan per square meter, and Sunac bid to invest in 278,000 square meters of hospital construction, the largest floor area offered among the bidders.

Zhang Dawei, director of Centaline Property's research center, said after expenses, including taxes, fees and management costs, the overall cost for property construction on the land will amount to 100,000 yuan per square meter.

"The future property sale price is estimated at 150,000 yuan per square meter," said Zhang.