Li Ka-shing's final real estate project in Beijing, Yucuiyuan, has once again commenced sales activities.
In recent days, CKH HOLDINGS' subsidiary, Hutchison Whampoa (Beijing Chaoyang) Real Estate Co., Ltd., has quietly released information regarding a new batch of available units: Yucuiyuan has obtained the latest sales permit for completed properties and is concurrently launching 50 new townhouse units, with construction areas ranging from approximately 345 to 400 square meters. It was noted that the Yucuiyuan WeChat public account, which had not been updated for over three months, has also started posting related content.
According to information from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Yucuiyuan has secured the necessary procedures for the new batch of completed property sales (townhouses and high-rise units), re-launching them on the market with a maximum intended selling price of approximately 99,000 yuan per square meter. "Currently, the main focus is on the townhouses, with prices around 30 million yuan," a sales channel source indicated on June 24. However, several agents from intermediary platforms stated they had "not yet received notification for representation" or that there was "no clear official information."
"The townhouses are now available for normal transactions and online signing, while the high-rise units might require a bit more waiting as the company finalizes specific sales details," an Yucuiyuan sales consultant explained. "The first batch of homeowners has already moved in, and the property ownership certificates have been processed. The prices are the same as during the pre-sale phase, unchanged, with each unit priced individually." This implies that, based on a 30 million yuan calculation, the price per square meter for a 345-square-meter townhouse would be approximately 87,000 yuan.
Yucuiyuan is developed by Hutchison Whampoa (Beijing Chaoyang) Real Estate Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CKH HOLDINGS. The project is located on the Yaojiayuan site, which has a total area of about 400,000 square meters. Hutchison Whampoa acquired the land in 2001 for approximately 700 million yuan, with a land cost per floor area of only 1,750 yuan per square meter.
Four years after the land acquisition, the first phase, Yicuigarden, was launched. According to reports, a total of 760 commercial housing units entered the market in Yicuigarden, with a final average transaction price of 9,230 yuan per square meter. Even at that time, this average transaction price was about 5.27 times the land cost per floor area. Around that period, surrounding projects like Huafang Yicheng, Gome First City, and Star River were successively launched, further driving up land prices in the area.
Subsequently, the project entered a prolonged "development" phase, during which there were several rumors of sales launches that never materialized, until the second phase, Yucuiyuan, officially commenced sales in July 2024. In preparation for this launch, major real estate agencies such as 5i5j and Centaline dispatched elite sales teams to participate in the Yucuiyuan 2024 Intermediary Mobilization Conference, where they set their respective performance pledges. According to Yucuiyuan's official WeChat account, during that mobilization conference, relevant leaders from Hutchison Whampoa "elaborated on the project's creation journey, market development trends, and the core features of the product to the attendees, allowing the channel elites to gain a deep understanding of Yucuiyuan's value advantages leading the market, while also filling everyone with full confidence for the upcoming challenges."
However, the sales performance did not meet expectations.
During the Labor Day holiday last year, Yucuiyuan launched a batch of discounted units, with the lowest price around 70,000 yuan per square meter, representing a discount of approximately 70% compared to the highest recorded price, which caused dissatisfaction among some existing homeowners. Several homeowners previously stated that Yucuiyuan had promised, via phone calls to owners who had completed online signing, a "renovation package" worth up to 1.1 million yuan with no additional conditions attached. However, later on, not only was the "renovation package" canceled, but the discounted unit promotion was also called off, leading homeowners to initially refuse to take possession of their properties. Following this, the project suspended sales and transitioned from pre-sale to completed property sales, until obtaining the sales permit for completed properties on June 8 this year.
Objectively speaking, Yucuiyuan benefits from mature surrounding commercial amenities, with relatively abundant medical and educational resources, creating a price inversion compared to some secondary market properties in the area. On the other hand, the project's unit layout design is outdated, especially when compared to new developments, showing a significant generational gap in product offerings. The units feature long depths and narrow frontages, and are delivered as bare shells, resulting in high renovation costs. Most importantly, due to the lengthy development cycle, the land use rights period has been substantially reduced, posing considerable sales pressure.
According to Beike Zhaofang, among the surrounding secondary market projects near Yucuiyuan, the average listing price for Yicuigarden in May was approximately 75,000 yuan per square meter, Yucui Shangfu around 79,000 yuan per square meter, and Star River Langyuan about 87,000 yuan per square meter. In terms of new properties, prices include Rongchuang No.1 Yard at 137,000 yuan per square meter, China Overseas Land & Investment's Wanjijiuxu at 125,000 yuan per square meter, and Zijinchengyuan at 110,000 yuan per square meter.
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