Neglected? A residential land plot in the core area of Beijing's Second Ring Road withdrew disappointingly.

In early September, Beijing announced the list of proposed residential land for the seventh round of supply. The Qinian Avenue plot in Dongcheng District attracted much attention due to its prime location in the core area of the Second Ring Road. As a result, it became the first plot to enter the pre - application stage for land use in the seventh round of land supply.

According to the relevant announcement, the deadline for pre - application acceptance of this plot was 17:00 on the afternoon of October 11. According to relevant media reports, since no real - estate enterprises signed up, this so - called "once - in - a - lifetime plot in the Second Ring Road" failed to be officially listed. However, some netizens said that two real - estate enterprises had paid the pre - deposit but were not listed for other reasons.

At 14:00 on the afternoon of October 13, the information of this plot was still listed in the land pre - application section on the official website of the Beijing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Commission. However, half an hour later, the information of this plot was removed.

Source: Official website

One of the Only Two in the Inner City

In the past five years, only two residential plots have been supplied in the core area of the inner city. One is the Jinyuchi plot, which was won by Hebei Xinjie with a 25% premium rate in July last year. The other is the Qinian Avenue plot proposed for supply this year.

Like the Jinyuchi plot, the Qinian Avenue plot also belongs to the Tiantan Sub - district in Dongcheng District. In terms of its boundaries, the plot is bounded by the Zhenbei Building in the north, the Jinyuchi Telephone Bureau, Jintai Academy, and the East Area of Jinyuchi in the west, the planned transportation facility land in the south, and Qinian Avenue in the east. It has a strong historical and cultural atmosphere, being adjacent to the Qianmen Historical Block in the north and Tiantan Park in the south, and only about 1 kilometer away from Tiananmen Square in a straight line. It is truly in the core area of the inner city.

Source: Official website document

The supporting facilities are naturally excellent. The Qiaowan Station of Line 7 is about 200 meters away, and one can transfer to the "Ciqikou Station" where Line 5 and Line 7 intersect on foot. Within a 2 - kilometer radius, there are several top - level tertiary hospitals such as Xiehe, Tongren, and Youyi, as well as many shopping malls like New World Department Store, Guorui City, Beijing Fang, and Wangfujing Joy. High - quality schools such as Jintai Academy Primary School and Beijing No. 11 Middle School are also nearby.

Source: Official website document

Compared with the Jinyuchi plot, the Qinian Avenue plot is of higher quality. First, the overall planned construction area of this plot is 25,000 square meters, of which the residential area is about 17,500 square meters, while the residential area of the Jinyuchi plot is only 1,700 square meters, with too few salable housing units. In addition, the plot ratio of the Qinian Avenue plot is only 1.1, while that of the Jinyuchi plot is 1.85, so the living comfort of the latter is far inferior to the former.

Challenging Difficulties

This uniquely advantaged residential plot on Qinian Avenue was once predicted by the market to trigger fierce competition among real - estate enterprises. However, the Jinyuchi plot, which is far inferior in quality, was sold at a high premium rate last year, while the Qinian Avenue plot failed to attract a single application from real - estate enterprises. The reasons for this situation are complex.

It may be because there are too many restrictions and high requirements, which deter developers.

According to the plan, the Qinian Avenue plot consists of six small plots, roughly arranged in a north - south queue. Four of them are for residential use, but unfortunately, they are separated by external roads. In this scattered state, it is quite difficult for developers to create a high - quality community life that matches this location.

Source: Official website document

Developers also cannot act as they please in product development. Taking the 0127 - 0202 plot as an example, the height limit is only 3.3 meters, and the plot ratio is 0.39. Considering the requirement in the land transfer document that "the design scheme should maintain the symmetry and integrity of the central axis, be coordinated with the surrounding environment, and be integrated with the overall urban style", and combined with the Jintai Academy on the west side, this plot is very likely to be developed into a courtyard - house product. In addition, the government has made requirements for the sales method of this courtyard - house product. The land transfer document clearly states that it should be "sold as a whole courtyard", and the purchase contract clearly prohibits unauthorized reconstruction, decoration, and splitting to protect the historical style of the core area.

At the same time, relevant requirements such as "the fifth facade, materials, colors, decorative components, etc. of the building should comprehensively consider the requirements of visual corridor landscape and style protection, do a good job in connecting the traditional style with the modern style, and not abuse traditional elements" further increase the development difficulty.

It may also be because of "difficulty in sales".

In the three small plots of 0127 - 0201, 0203, and 0204, the height limit is 18 meters, and about six - story townhouse - type products can be built. Excluding the courtyard - house products, if the future townhouses are calculated at 200 square meters per unit, it is expected to provide about 70 housing units, and they are distributed in three independent communities. For such a small - scale community, if the product cannot be made perfect, how many high - end customers will be willing to pay for it?

Then there is the price. The starting price of this plot is 1.95 billion yuan, equivalent to a floor price of 78,000 yuan per square meter, about 28% higher than the transaction floor price of 61,000 yuan per square meter of the Jinyuchi plot. Referring to the pre - sale guiding price of 151,000 yuan per square meter of the Jinyuchi plot in the surrounding area and the second - hand price of about 130,000 yuan per square meter of Tiantan Mansion. If successfully transferred, the housing price of the Qinian Avenue plot in the future is likely to be around 150,000 yuan per square meter.

At this price, one can buy many high - quality luxury houses outside the inner city in Beijing. Even if choosing a property in the inner city, the Zhonghai Jinghua Jiuxu, 2 kilometers west of the plot, can easily outshine the "fragmented" situation of the Qinian Avenue plot just in terms of the park scale. Therefore, if a developer really takes over the Qinian Avenue plot, it will face considerable sales pressure in the future.

In the current downward phase of the industry, real - estate enterprises facing difficulties in financing and high pressure in inventory clearance are becoming more conservative in land auctions. Coupled with the high requirements, great development difficulty, high coordination cost, and unclear sales prospects of the Qinian Avenue plot, it may be a more rational choice for real - estate enterprises to back off in the face of difficulties.

However, after a few years when the market changes, this high - quality plot in the inner city may be repackaged and re - launched into the market.