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Our reporter Zhang Jiazhen reports from Wuhan

"The price per unit of Wanhe Optics Valley has dropped from the registered price of more than 20,000 yuan to the current price of 12,500 yuan. Is it a malicious price reduction? Has it been re-registered?" The Wanhe Optics Valley project located in the East Lake New Technology Development Zone of Wuhan City (China Optics Valley) has recently reduced prices for promotions, with the highest price reduction being nearly 10,000 yuan. Whether the developer is suspected of violating regulations has become the most concerned issue for early home buyers.

Recently, many Wanhe Guanggu owners reported on the "Wuhan City Message Board" that there was a substantial price reduction in the Wanhe Guangu project, and consulted the relevant authorities on "whether the price reduction is too large and exceeds the registered price range, and is reasonable."

In response, the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of the East Lake New Technology Development Zone said: "Enterprises adjusting the prices of commercial housing according to market conditions is within the scope of independent operation of market entities and does not violate the prohibitive provisions of laws and regulations."

It is understood that the Wanhe Optics Valley project is developed by Wuhan Persimmon Culture and Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Wuhan Culture and Tourism Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Wuhan Culture and Tourism Group"). On August 1, Wang, the sales manager of Wanhe Optics Valley, told the reporter of China Business News that in May this year, the company used houses to repay debts to the construction party Wuhan Construction Group. The total area of ​​the houses was 1,600 square meters, and the project payment was calculated at 18,000 yuan per square meter. "The construction party found relevant channels to sell this part of the houses. We did not participate in the specific pricing. We are only responsible for the registration and name change of the houses. As a state-owned enterprise, we cannot reduce prices at will. The normal sales price of the sales department is 17,000 yuan to 18,000 yuan per square meter."

The sales manager surnamed Wang admitted that the project was under pressure to sell due to the downturn in the real estate market. "From November last year to the end of May this year, no houses were sold, and only one house was sold in July. According to the contract, the project will be delivered at the end of this year, and the subsequent capital investment issue needs to be resolved."

State-owned enterprise project caught in public opinion storm

The reporter found that as early as May this year, many owners reported that there were substantial price cuts in the Wanhe Optics Valley project.

For example, on May 17 this year, an owner reported and inquired through the "Wuhan City Message Board": "Wanhe Guanggu directly reduced the price by 5,000 yuan. Can the quality and delivery be guaranteed?" On June 5 this year, an owner also inquired that Wanhe Guanggu significantly reduced prices in May, damaging the interests of early owners. Is this behavior in line with the relevant procedures for the sale of newly built commercial housing?

According to relevant owners, the registered price of the Wanhe Optics Valley project when it was launched in the first half of 2022 was about 23,000 yuan/square meter, and it was sold at a discounted price of about 19,000 yuan/square meter, while the recent lowest selling price was only about 14,000 yuan/square meter.

(Price reduction information of Wanhe Optics Valley previously released by Wuhan real estate marketing personnel. Image source: Sihai House Viewing)

In this regard, the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of the East Lake New Technology Development Zone stated after investigation that in the early stage, the filing price of Vanward Optics Valley in the pre-sale plan was about 23,124 yuan/square meter, and the average transaction price was about 18,300 yuan/square meter. "Due to a debt dispute between the company and the construction party, part of the house was mortgaged to the construction party. Recently, the construction party sold the mortgaged houses at a low price in order to recover funds, with the highest price reduction reaching 6,000 yuan/square meter."

"The price of commercial housing is determined independently by the developer based on market supply and demand, and the final transaction price is agreed upon with the buyer through a contract, but it must not exceed the pre-sale filing price. Upon verification, the prices of houses sold in the project did not exceed the filing price." The Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of the East Lake New Technology Development Zone further stated.

This also means that according to the above response, the developer's price reduction during the house sales process is an independent pricing behavior, and there is no clear restriction on the extent of the price reduction, nor is it illegal or against regulations.

It is worth noting that on July 31, Zhengzhou Housing Security Department announced the cancellation of the price guidance for commercial housing sales, and developers can set their own prices for sales or go through the pre-sale (sales) permit filing procedures. However, at present, the relevant departments of Wuhan City have not issued an official document explicitly proposing the cancellation of the price limit for commercial housing.

Regarding whether there are any housing units for workers at a significant price reduction, the reporter consulted a manager named Xu at the Wanhe Optics Valley Sales Department in the name of a home buyer. He confirmed that Wanhe Optics Valley still has low-priced housing units for sale, with a unit price of around 13,800 yuan per square meter, which is equivalent to housing units for workers at a price reduction, and some units are still available. It is reported that the initial price of the project was more than 17,000 yuan per square meter.

It is understood that Wanhe Optics Valley, also known as Optics Valley Intellectual Property International Cooperation Center (IPIC), has a total of 908 units in business, commercial and residential projects. Among them, residential units are used as supporting facilities for the project, with a total of 400 units. According to the pre-sale certificate filing price information, the project obtained the pre-sale license for the first time on July 22, 2022. The average filing price of high-rise building 2-a is 23,340 yuan/square meter, and the average filing price of low-rise building 2-b is 24,000 yuan/square meter.

The Wanhe Optics Valley project was jointly created by Wuhan Cultural Tourism Group, one of the "Top Ten Cultural Enterprises in Hubei Province", Wuhan Dongyin Industrial Park, and Wuhan Optics Valley Intellectual Property Alliance, and the construction unit is Wuhan Construction Group.

According to the official publicity materials of Wanhe Optics Valley, the Optics Valley Intellectual Property International Cooperation Center (IPIC) is built and operated by Wuhan Cultural Tourism Group, with a total planned investment of 2 billion yuan. In addition to residential buildings, it also includes two main industrial buildings with a total area of ​​96,000 square meters and an Optics Valley Intellectual Property Exhibition Center of about 3,000 square meters, which are planned to be completed and put into use in 2024.

Work was briefly suspended due to a dispute over project payment

Official data shows that Wuhan Culture and Tourism Group was established on February 28, 2023. It was formed by the merger of the former Wuhan Tourism and Sports Group, Wuhan Cultural Investment Group, and Wuhan Wenxing Company. It is the largest state-owned tourism, cultural and sports asset operation platform in Wuhan.

In recent years, Wuhan Culture and Tourism Group has created cultural and tourism products such as Zhiyin, Night on Yellow Crane Tower, East Lake Greenway, and Yangtze River Light Show, and has built and operated key cultural industrial park projects in Wuhan such as the Central China National Digital Publishing Base (Zhigu Cultural Industrial Park) and Optics Valley International New Culture E-sports Center.

As supporting residential projects in the industrial park, Wanhe Optics Valley and Wuhan Optics Valley Wanhe Jingjie, located in the Optics Valley East section of Wuhan East Lake New Technology Development Zone, are both on sale. To further promote sales, in April this year, Sino-Ocean Construction Management signed a contract with Wuhan Optics Valley Wanhe Jingjie project to provide the client with project consulting, market research, marketing planning, sales services and other professional marketing agency services.

"The 2023 Wuhan Municipal Government Work Report clearly stated: Promote the construction of the Optics Valley Intellectual Property International Cooperation Center and create a national intellectual property protection demonstration zone." The Wanhe Optics Valley project stated in its external publicity that the project was included in the "Wuhan Intellectual Property "14th Five-Year Plan" Outline" at the same time. After completion, it will become a leading scale, high-level, and fully functional intellectual property-exclusive physical aggregation area in central China.

It is worth noting that according to many owners, the construction progress of the Vanhe Optics Valley project has been very slow since 2013, and they are worried that the project will be suspended and unfinished, and the houses will not be delivered as scheduled by the end of this year. On April 12 this year, the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau and the Construction Bureau of the East Lake New Technology Development Zone responded that after verification, some of the early project funds had not been settled, resulting in slow construction, and work resumed at the end of March. "The project has not applied for resumption of work since (2024). The main reason is that there are problems with the construction unit and the construction unit. The construction unit has been slow to start work. According to the contract, the delivery time of the project is December 31, 2024. The construction unit and the construction unit have been communicating in a friendly and positive manner, and the project has now resumed."

On July 4, the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau and the Construction Bureau of the East Lake New Technology Development Zone responded again that the stairwell railings, exterior window glass installation and interior putty painting construction in the public area of ​​the Wanhe Optics Valley project were underway and there was no suspension of work at the site.

Regarding the construction of the Wanhe Optics Valley project, the reporter called Wuhan Cultural Tourism Group on August 1. The front desk staff coordinated the above-mentioned sales manager surnamed Wang to be interviewed and introduced the relevant situation: "From November last year to the end of May this year, no housing source of the project was registered online, and the residential part must be delivered by the end of this year as agreed in the contract. If the housing source is not used to pay the project payment, and the construction team does not start construction, there will be problems with delivery."

"The real estate market is not doing well right now, and it's difficult to sell the goods. As a state-owned enterprise, the company cannot lower prices (to recover funds). Originally, the company wanted to discuss a work-for-housing plan with the construction party, but because of the owners' complaints, the construction party no longer accepts this plan." said the above-mentioned sales manager surnamed Wang.

(Editor: Shi Yingjing Reviewer: Tong Haihua Proofreader: Yan Yuxia)