A Master Planned Community in Nanjing

I was pleased and honored to be hosted by a developer in Nanjing, China, to see a master-planned community they're building.

I caught the 6 AM train to Nanjing from Shanghai. At speeds of up to 160 MPH, I was in Nanjing by 8 AM, and met by Ben, my translator-friend, a driver, and a 735 BMW. We picked up Mr. Li, the developer representative, and we proceeded to the property.

The country side was beautiful. It was reminiscent of the wine country of Northern California, with vineyards and rolling hills. I arrived at the property to find some old buildings, a few new homes under construction, and a small lake.

Mr. Li walked me around. He showed me the new monument entrance to be built, connecting the development to the new road, being completed now, from the major highway seven minutes away. He showed me the plans to fill the lake to a larger size, add boating, and the locations of three boutique hotels at different positions in the development. The homes under construction were pre-sold, at about four hundred thousand U.S., which works out to about one hundred U.S. a square foot.

I asked about the larger decision-process. How did they decide on this plan? How are they sure there will be buyers when they're done?

Mr. Li told me that the property is located next to a national park which is being further developed by the national government. The only private property adjacent to the one they are developing is owned by a private company that uses it for company training meetings. There were no competing developments in the area. There was no more land available to develop for this type of housing. Further, the location puts it less than an hour from Nanjing (fourth largest economic center in China), and two hours from Shanghai and Hangzhou, two economic centers with huge demographics of affluent Chinese looking for a second home in a resort-centered community far from the city environment but close enough to drive to easily.

He went on to say that the eventual development would have many amenities. The water would offer boating and swimming. The hotels would serve as restaurants and facilities for the residents to dine and be entertained. He drove me by a terrific golf course about fifteen minutes away.

I asked if he needs anything. Yes, he'd like help in three areas. First, a hotel developer could build-to-suit three boutique hotels and operate them. Second, most of their money is in place but they could consider an investor. Finally, he'd like to attract foreign buyers to a world-class resort in a charming area of Nanjing (only twenty five kilometers from the Nanjing International Airport).