There are still some "mysterious players" in Beijing's luxury housing market.

Spring has truly arrived in Beijing!

This week, the maximum temperature will climb above 20 degrees Celsius. Under the blooming cherry trees in the parks, there will soon appear charming faces described as "bright eyes glancing and sweet smiles showing".

The makeup on their faces will reveal some consumption and aesthetic preferences of the new era, which serves as another mirror for industry insiders and economists to observe society.

Beijing's parks are also the favorites of developers. If there is a park beside a project, not doing a good job in product development would seem a waste of this resource. Therefore, classic projects have emerged in the areas around Chaoyang Park, Olympic Forest Park, Nanhaizi Park, the Summer Palace, and Yuquanshan Park in Beijing.

Tao Ran Ting Park is no exception.

Looking beyond the flower branches and the wall, in the northeast corner of the park, there is a residential community with three sides recessed into the park. Eight buildings have quietly stood there for about 20 years. This project is "One Bottle" - a luxury property on another logical line in Beijing.

Source: Gaode Map

01

To understand One Bottle, we need to go back to 2007.

At that time, the Beijing real - estate market had not really taken off and was still in the era of wild growth described by Feng Lun. However, One Bottle was already a "legend" back then.

The mystery of the "legend" originated from some "hidden elites". There were no floor plans or photos of it circulated. Only a sense of pride of "I bought One Bottle" was inadvertently revealed in the conversations among these "hidden elites".

The name of One Bottle is as special as the project itself.

Source: Future Livable

Tao Ran Ting Park is located in Xicheng District, Beijing. To its south are the moat and the Second Ring Road. This location determines that the nearby projects are naturally "scarce". In plain words, they are easy to sell.

However, it is unexpected that One Bottle is still launching new units. It is said that this time, the developer's "collectibles" include Building 7 and Unit 1 of Building 9, with more than 40 units in total. The average price is 190,000 yuan per square meter, which is higher than the selling price of the new houses in Phase 5 of CITIC City.

There are only two types of floor - area in Building 9, which are 238.33 square meters and 263.31 square meters respectively. For this new launch, the developer has renovated the units with high - end finishing.

Source: One Bottle Real Estate

There are more than a dozen units in Building 7, which offer a view of the lake in the park. There are two units per floor with four elevators. These are rough - finished units, and each unit is more than 500 square meters. It is expected that two units will be combined and sold, and the estimated selling price for the whole floor will reach 150 million yuan.

There are numerous multi - million - yuan properties in the inner city, but a 20 - year - old project worth over 100 million yuan is a rare commodity.

When it comes to One Bottle, we can't ignore the boss of this project: Wang Gongzheng. He is a loyal fan of traditional Chinese culture and is keen on collecting, investing a large amount of money in it. His collections can be seen everywhere in the show flat, the sales office, and the community of One Bottle, ranging from porcelain to century - old wine, ancient paintings, and antique beds. There is nothing he hasn't collected that you can think of.

Even a tree in the community has withstood the test of a thousand years. There are also various stone carvings in the community garden, such as horse - tying stones and the twelve Chinese zodiac signs. The stone slabs on the roads in the community are old bluestones from Anhui.

Back then, One Bottle attracted many artists and "hidden elites" in the city with its unique charm. Coupled with the view of Tao Ran Ting Park from the windows, it should not have a shortage of buyers. However, it has been on the market for nearly 20 years. The project's explanation is:

The boss is not short of money and is not in a hurry to sell.

Wang Gongzheng is very low - key. During the golden age of the real - estate industry, he did not pursue large - scale development and standardization. The number of real - estate projects he developed across the country can be counted on one hand. In addition to being a developer, he also acquired the Chengdu No.1 Pharmaceutical Factory and has a very stable business.

Looking back at One Bottle today, we suddenly have a feeling: In the past 20 years, a large number of real - estate enterprises that pursued large - scale development and high - risk strategies have gone bankrupt, while the "One Bottles" that developed slowly are still doing well. At the same time, rapid large - scale development and involution have led to a high degree of homogenization of products today, with similar floor plans and high - end finishing. However, 20 years ago, there were projects with various styles and positioning. Today, the diversity of the real - estate industry is disappearing, both at the enterprise and project levels.

02

Today, "playing slowly" has become a symbol of "smartness".

When it comes to "smartness", we have to mention a person: Li Ka - shing. He is a typical "slow player".

Last year, Yu Cui Yuan, a project under his company, appeared on the hot - selling list. This project was acquired by Hutchison Whampoa under Li Ka - shing in 2001 and is still being sold slowly after 20 years.

In the Central Villa Area, there is another project under the Li Ka - shing family: Yu Tian Xia, which also has a large number of units for sale.

Yu Tian Xia has a longer history.

In 1993, Beijing Oriental Plaza, developed by Cheung Kong (Holdings) under Li Ka - shing, officially started construction with a total investment of 2 billion US dollars. Later, this project became a money - making machine for Li Ka - shing and was once the property with the highest single - store rental income in the Chinese mainland.

In the same year, Cheung Kong (Holdings) also acquired a residential land in Beijing but did not rush to develop it. The project, Yu Tian Xia, was launched for the first time in 2008. Since then, Yu Tian Xia has a history of more than 30 years.

Yu Tian Xia is a large - scale project with a total construction area of 800,000 square meters. The early development mainly focused on villa products, and the currently available units are the final phase of apartment products, continuing the design style of "Yu Tian Xia". There are two types of floor - area, 120 square meters and 240 square meters, and the price has been greatly discounted compared to the launch in 2019.

In 2015, during the period of soaring housing prices, Yu Tian Xia ranked first in the transaction amount of villa products in Beijing. However, there have been no major actions since then, and it has been sold quietly.

03

Wang Gongzheng is from Yiwu, and Li Ka - shing is from Hong Kong. To be precise, they are not typical mainland developers, but they have managed to "survive".

We wonder how many private real - estate enterprises today can be so "carefree".

Somehow, the era of a hundred schools of thought contending in the real - estate industry has quietly passed. Xinghewan, Zhonghe, and Taihe have all become things of the past.

The Beijing land market has finally entered the era of large - scale capital dominated by a few giants. Cost control, standardized design, and high - end finishing have become the mainstream.

Today, when there is a strong advocate for building "good houses", what kind of houses are truly good houses? Perhaps in addition to competing in terms of balconies, occupancy rates, and themed gardens, the city also needs some personalized projects that can increase the diversity of the city.

At least, don't make the project names so similar!