Since the suspension of work in 1997, the Giant Building has become an urban scar. Photo by Guan Mingrong, reporter from Nanfang Daily
The plan to build the "China's tallest building" has been unfinished for 23 years. At present, many parties are willing to revitalize the project but have differences. Can the Giant Tower be reborn?
Overlooking the Giant Building from the sky, the two-story reinforced concrete building with a peculiar shape is like a run-down maze. Since the suspension of work in 1997, this once planned "China's tallest building" has become an urban scar that cannot be erased in Zhuhai.
The Giant Building has attracted much attention, which originated from the legend behind Shi Yuzhu.
In the 1990s, Shi Yuzhu single-handedly created the myth of "giant" in Zhuhai, and quickly broke the halberd. After that, he went to Shanghai to reshape the business empire, but the Giant Building left in Zhuhai has been unfinished and has become the world of two waste collection stations and driving schools.
In July of this year, Zhuhai officially issued the "Measures for Renovation of "Unfinished Buildings"" to remediate unfinished buildings. According to reports, the Giant Building project is undertaking preliminary work.
Simultaneously with the dawn of revitalization, there are still many unclear doubts: why the "giant" who has come back from the mountain has not rebuilt the Giant Building? What is the real reason for the 23-year unfinished project? This time, can the New Deal promote the rebirth of the Giant Building? Recently, a reporter from Nanfang Daily conducted an investigation.
●Southern Daily reporter Shen Mengyi He Liyuan
Work was suspended in 1997 until now, "Never saw Shi Yuzhu come back"
The Giant Mansion is located in the city center of Zhuhai, an area of about 29,000 square meters. It is only about 1 km from the office of the Xiangzhou District Government.
In recent years, many high-rise buildings have been built around the plot, including the Zhuhai Poster Industry Building and the Telecom Building, which is thriving. The Giant Mansion, which was built with only two floors, is extremely desolate. The ABS material on the exterior wall that was pasted to "cover the ugliness" a few years ago has also begun to fall off.
Passing through the training ground of a car driving school, the reporter found the entrance into the building. This has become a waste collection station: the lobby is stacked with many packaged waste and garbage, and there are also household utensils such as beds and stoves.
"We have lived here for many years, which is equivalent to helping them see the building." Aunt He, the owner of the acquisition station, told reporters, "Every year people come here to visit, but I have never seen Shi Yuzhu come back."
The connection between Shi Yuzhu and Zhuhai is difficult to cut. In 1991, 29-year-old Shi Yuzhu established Zhuhai Giant High-Tech Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhuhai Giant") in Zhuhai, determined to become China's IBM.
As the giant Hanka swept the country, Zhuhai Giant soon became the most watched "high-tech enterprise" in China at that time, and gradually rolled out a diversified blueprint—computers, biological engineering and real estate.
The Giant Building came from this: This 15-story headquarters building with a planned total investment of 200 million yuan, with the help of various factors, eventually became the “China’s No. 1” building with a planned total investment of 1.2 billion yuan and a total of 78 floors. A tall building".
In 1994, the Giant Building broke ground. Only 3 years later, as the Zhuhai Giant's capital chain broke, the Giant Building also capsized overnight. When the work was officially shut down in February 1997, only the civil construction of the pile foundation, bearing platform, three underground floors and two above ground were completed.
And this stop is 23 years.
During this period, Shi Yuzhu went to Shanghai to start his own business again, and the "new giant" he first founded-Giant Network Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Giant Network Group") also successfully went public. In the 2019 Forbes China 400 Rich List, Shi Yuzhu ranked 258th with a wealth of 10.25 billion yuan.
The Giant Mansion has become the place he least wants to look back. "I never want to see this ghost place again! This is the biggest decision-making mistake in my life, and it is also my sadness." In an interview with the media, Shi Yuzhu once reflected and said: "I am so happy, I am really faint!"
At present, the rights and interests are too dispersed, and it is difficult to activate the project
Why didn't Shi Yuzhu, who had made a comeback, rebuild the Giant Building? An undisclosed fact is that the Giant Building no longer belongs to the Zhuhai Giant.
The reporter learned from an internal data from a government department in Zhuhai that in 2001, the Intermediate People's Court of Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province ruled that the construction in progress of the Giant Building and the corresponding land use rights were ruled to 19 stakeholders. In addition, each creditor will waive the right of recourse to Zhuhai Giant's unliquidated part of the debt after accepting the corresponding share of the real estate to pay off their debts in accordance with their respective creditor's rights ratios.
The data shows that the proportion of equity held by 19 equity holders ranges from 0.088% to 24.39%. The top three are Singapore IPCCOR.LTD, Zhuhai Engineering Office of China Construction Fifth Bureau and Zhuhai Shian Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shian Company").
Among them, Shi'an Company is an affiliate of Zhuhai Giant. According to information from Tianyan, the company was established in December 2000 and the legal representative is Wang Minzhu. And he is also the current legal representative of Zhuhai Giant.
“The stakeholders include foreign companies, central enterprises, and some small companies that have been cancelled. In addition to the large stakeholders, there are many subdivided small stakeholders below.” The above-mentioned person familiar with the matter said that the dispersion of rights and interests aggravated the revitalization of the project. Difficulty: "The premise of revitalization is that the stakeholders must basically reach a consensus. In fact, the Zhuhai Giants are most suitable to take the lead in communicating this matter, but they have not taken any actual actions."
What's the reason? The reporter tried to find out about the situation with an employee of Zhuhai Giant, but the employee said: "Zhuhai basically exists in name only, no one goes to work. If you have any questions, you should ask the Shanghai side."
The relevant person in charge of the brand department of Giant Network Group also said that due to the relatively long period of time, it is temporarily impossible to accurately understand the detailed reasons for the 23-year failure of the Giant Building.
The biggest stakeholder changed hands and many differences remain to be resolved
The deadlock was only broken in recent years. A newly entered Zhuhai local private enterprise has become a more active promoter.
From 2017 to 2019, Zhuhai Saina Real Estate Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Saina Real Estate") successively acquired the interests in the Giant Building project held by Singapore IPCCOR.LTD and Ping An Bank Guangzhou Branch, which together accounted for more than 30%. Become the largest stakeholder in the project. Over the past year or so, the company has been seeking to communicate with other stakeholders, hoping to promote the revitalization of the project as soon as possible.
"We went to Beijing and Shanghai, and we talked face-to-face with the China Construction Fifth Bureau and Shi Yuzhu. At present, everyone's willingness to revitalize is relatively strong." Said Chen Li, executive director of Sino Real Estate. But he also admitted that there are still many obstacles that need to be resolved from the willingness to the eventual success of the project.
The biggest difference between the parties lies in the land transfer fee of the Giant Building. The above internal information shows that when the Giant Building stopped work, the Zhuhai Giant also owed more than 90 million yuan in land transfer fees. Although in 2001, the Zhuhai Intermediate People’s Court ruled to exempt the transfer fee and its interest and penalty interest, “but many parties have disputes about the result of the ruling and cannot be implemented into functional departments.” According to the aforementioned person familiar with the matter, “the land price, interest, and penalty Should I make up the interest now? How to make up? There is no conclusion."
Another obstacle is that although the court has ruled the project to 19 stakeholders, the land ownership of the project is still under the name of Zhuhai Giant and the transfer of ownership has not been completed. "All we got was a ruling paper and no land certificate. We didn't transfer the ownership in time after the ruling, we don't know." Chen Li said.
In response to this, in a written reply to reporters, Giant Network Group explained: “After the court’s ruling, 19 creditors did not transfer their accounts in time. The specific reason is unknown and may involve the issue of transfer fees."
District state-owned enterprises involved in coordination and activation methods have not yet been determined
When will the giant building in the whirlpool usher in its rebirth? A positive signal is: Zhuhai's determination to remediate unfinished buildings is very clear.
As early as May 2017, Zhuhai has issued and implemented the "Measures on Speeding Up the Treatment of Unfinished Buildings in Zhuhai City". According to statistics, since the implementation of this policy, a number of unfinished buildings have been effectively promoted, of which 6 unfinished buildings are undergoing demolition and construction.
In order to do a good job in policy convergence, in July this year, the Zhuhai Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources issued the "Measures for the Treatment of "Unfinished Buildings"." The New Deal puts forward for the first time that unfinished building projects can be combined with urban renewal projects or land transfer construction projects, and linked to development and construction, adding more operating space for unfinished buildings. According to the relevant person in charge of the bureau, at present, four unfinished buildings, including the Giant Building, are carrying out preliminary work.
"It's still in a very early stage, and we are sorting out the historical issues." said Li Mingda, chairman of Zhuhai Zhengfang Urban Construction Investment Co., Ltd.
As a state-owned enterprise in Xiangzhou District, at the end of 2019, according to the relevant government deployment arrangements, Zhengfang began to intervene to coordinate the revitalization of the Giant Building. "We will gradually communicate with all stakeholders, but the method of revitalization has not yet been finalized." Li Mingda said.
"From the current situation, the most suitable revitalization plan for the project is bankruptcy and reorganization. The debts and debts are resolved through a package of judicial procedures, and then new investors are introduced to the project for blood transfusion. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the linkage between the government and the court to solve the problem together. "A person in the legal profession who has been engaged in research on unfinished buildings for a long time told reporters that he believes this is the most thorough and fair way to win-win.
"It is obviously unrealistic to talk about compensation one-on-one with 19 stakeholders, but as long as the creditors whose equity accounts for more than 2/3 agree, the court can rule that the entire agreement is valid." He explained.
But he also emphasized that the prerequisite for bankruptcy and reorganization is that the creditors, debtors and investors all have the will before the court can accept it. "At present, the Giant Building does not yet have this condition."
Chen Li did not agree with this opinion. "The process of bankruptcy and reorganization is more complicated, and it takes longer. We prefer the government to reclaim the project land, or the government to coordinate the introduction of new investors. But no matter which way, we will try our best to cooperate." Chen Li said .
Regarding the next revitalization plan, Giant Network Group did not issue a clear opinion. "We have not yet formally contacted the relevant government departments on the Giant Building." The relevant person in charge of the brand department of the department told reporters.
■Extension
Shi Yuzhu
Will it return?
The Southern Software Base project "aborted", Giant Group still keeps an eye on Zhuhai
While the curtain of revitalizing the Giant Building slowly opened, the intersection between Shi Yuzhu and Zhuhai became more and more distant.
According to Tianyan Check information, after stepping down as the legal representative of Zhuhai Giant in 2007, Shi Yuzhu also stepped down as the legal representative and executive director of the subsidiary Zhuhai Giant Technology Industrial Co., Ltd. on June 29 this year, and was succeeded by Shi Yufei.
On his personal Weibo, the wording about Zhuhai has been stuck in September 2011. This is less than 2 years since his high-profile return to Zhuhai.
On December 17, 2009, Giant Networks Southern Headquarters and Southern R&D Base held a grand foundation laying ceremony in Zhuhai High-tech Zone. The site of the project is about 10 kilometers away from the Giant Building. According to the plan at the time, the project investment was 300 million U.S. dollars, which will be built into a large-scale multi-functional online game creative and design park.
However, this highly anticipated return has quietly miscarried three years later.
"The main reason is that the giant's planning adjustments have not been reached by the two parties." The relevant person in charge of the Zhuhai High-tech Zone Management Committee told reporters that in May 2012, the land department has officially handled the recycling procedures for the land.
Giant Network Group also confirmed this statement: "The Southern Software Base project is our company's initiative to return the land, mainly because in 2012 the company focused on the research and development of the giant headquarters in Songjiang, Shanghai, not elsewhere. Set up a research and development base."
But it also further expressed its concern for the development of this city: "At present, Giant Group still has business support in Zhuhai in the field of health business. In the future, we will continue to focus on new development opportunities in Zhuhai and seek win-win cooperation."
Coordinator: Wu Zhiyuan and Lu Hong