Top of the big era

When I met Lao Zhang, I first asked Changyou about his plans for the New York headquarters.

"It's almost possible. It can be implemented." Zhang Chaoyang had just returned from the United States and had only slept for a few hours. Maybe because he didn't have a good rest, his voice was a little hoarse. "But it's not the same as expected."

Zhou Buqi asked: "What's the difference?"

Zhang Chaoyang said: "In the dense business district that is popular in Manhattan, if you stand on this building, you can jump to another building at will. If you want to build a low-density Internet headquarters park, it will be difficult. It works."

Zhou Buqi didn't care about this, "That doesn't matter, I have to carve out a piece of territory that belongs to me."

Internet companies in the new era have many fundamental differences with traditional industries, which are reflected in all aspects, including their headquarters buildings.

The headquarters of traditional companies are usually high-rise buildings, which are very tall and spectacular business office buildings. The most famous one was the Giant Group, which wanted to build a 70-story headquarters building. The company went bankrupt because of a broken capital chain.

Internet technology companies are different. They generally don’t have high-rise buildings and are generally relatively “short”.

The highest is only a dozen floors, and the height is generally six or seven floors.

Because the floors are relatively low, there are relatively few available office spaces, and one building is simply not enough. Therefore, a large headquarters campus needs to be planned and covered with more than ten or twenty buildings.

Like Microsoft's headquarters, it looks like a small town with hundreds of buildings.

Every building is not high.

Moreover, the density is very low, the buildings are far apart, and many flowers, plants and trees are planted, occupying a huge area.

From a traditional perspective, this is a waste of land.

Therefore, a phenomenon has emerged. The headquarters of traditional large companies are usually located in central business districts. They are very grand and grand and have excellent geographical locations.

The headquarters of Internet companies are very remote, and they are all located in the suburbs.

There is no way around this. There is no land allocated to Internet companies in the central area to waste.

This is one of the reasons why Internet giants now gather in Silicon Valley but are unwilling to develop in New York. If you go to New York, you have to go to Manhattan... But Manhattan has less land and more companies, which makes it the largest and densest CBD in the world.

Seeing Manhattan through satellite images can give you trypophobia.

Zhou Buqi fought in New York several times and finally found a site with a chance to operate, a large terminal building, and a large civil airport that could be developed for commercial real estate.

The terminal building is an old building. This kind of building carries history. It is almost impossible to demolish and rebuild it. The only way is to renovate the interior and transform it into an office area.

The civilian airport in the back can be bulldozed and a new building built.

However, flowers and plants are not necessary.

Buildings should be built close together to maximize the use of land resources.

Zhang Chaoyang said: "It is expected that four new office buildings of 25-30 floors can be built. In addition to the renovation of the terminal building, this project is not small. There is also the airport land cost. The total investment is expected to be no less than 2 billion US dollars."

Changyou would definitely not be able to afford such a large amount of money.

Even if we bring Ziweixing International, Spotify, and Netflix over, we still can’t afford it.

Zhou Buqi said: "Then find a partner to develop together, which is equivalent to equity financing. Well... I bought a football team in Silicon Valley, called the San Jose Earthquakes, you know, right?"

"Um."

"The team is launching a new stadium plan. The team spends almost no money. It only needs to apply for a fund from the government as start-up capital, and then obtain equity financing from the commercial market, and then start this real estate project. ."

Zhang Chaoyang understood the meaning immediately, "Use real estate as a financial product?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "Yes, the current domestic real estate market actually has financial attributes, but policy restrictions... I just don't want to lift the veil and strictly control the financial operations of real estate projects. It's okay in the United States, there are no such restrictions ."

Zhang Chaoyang nodded, "The terminal has been renovated several times internally. This time, the renovation is very fast. It is estimated that we can move in next summer."

"Good thing."

"Then we rent it?"

Zhou Buqi laughed and said, "That's for sure, you can't buy it, right?"

Zhang Chaoyang said: "It's not impossible to buy it. The current price is not too high. It is estimated to be 600 million to 800 million US dollars. It should be possible to get it. Changyou can pay the money."

"You can take it down!" Zhou Buqi refused without hesitation, "I still have a lot of use for the small amount of money in Changyou's account! It's okay to invest the extra money in real estate. Times are changing so fast now. We need to spend more money to make strategic and business arrangements.”

Zhang Chaoyang said: "I know, but I have consulted some institutions and heard some opinions."

"Oh? What?"

"The New York authorities are going to carry out a large-scale renovation and transformation of the Hudson Yards campus in Manhattan. This is a super-large project that may become the largest real estate project in the history of New York. This St. John's Terminal is located 150 meters from Hudson Yards. The park is not far away. As long as the real estate cluster project of the Hudson Yards Park is put into operation, and the investment of 20 to 30 billion US dollars is poured in, it will create a large scale effect, and it will be possible to plan the terminal building."

"Is there such a good thing?"

Zhou Buqi's eyes lit up, and he suddenly felt like making a lot of money in real estate investment.

The current terminal building is in a relatively remote location, with old and backward facilities around it, as well as noise interference from a small civil airport. After being transformed into a commercial office building, the occupancy rate was not high, causing the project to be unable to make ends meet.

That's why the New York authorities are pushing for Zhou Buqi to take over the terminal.

As long as Ziweixing International or Changyou rents this terminal, it will have a 100% occupancy rate. If it is a one-time acquisition, that would be better, and the authorities will be relieved to take the money and leave.

Because it is not popular here, the price for acquiring the terminal will not be too high.

But now such an opportunity has appeared.

Commercial development in Manhattan is so advanced that land resources are insufficient. The New York authorities want to re-plan the land around Hudson Yards with backward facilities, transform transportation, renovate subways, and build a new era of commercial office buildings. District... will turn decay into magic and turn this backward area into a new business star district in Manhattan!

As it happens, the St. John's Terminal is not far from here, and it can be covered with a little expansion.

This is a good chance.

If we buy the terminal building now and the new office buildings built on the surrounding land, when the Hudson Yards Park is developed, the land price will increase several times... the property value of "Changyou Park" will increase Multiple times!

Even with luck, the two places are connected. The real estate planning and buildings in the "Changyou Park" are beautiful and attractive enough, and there is a chance to dominate and attract all the attention that originally belonged to the Hudson Yards Park. Be the center.

Zhang Chaoyang said: "If the New York authorities are really determined to launch this big project in the Hudson Yards Park..."

"Don't think about it, it will be done! Michael Bloomberg is already in his third term as mayor, and he can't be re-elected. All he can think about now is what he can do in the last few years of his term. His achievements will be etched in the history of the city of New York."

Zhou Buqi's words were very firm, not only from his foresight, but also from his understanding of Michael Bloomberg in this life.

Zhang Chaoyang glanced at him and said, "If this is the case, now is the best time to buy the terminal. In a few years, when the Hudson Yards project is really realized, the surrounding real estate prices will skyrocket."

"Buy it now? No!"

Zhou Buqi insisted on his attitude. How could he invest such a large sum of money in real estate during such a critical period?

Even if the Hudson Yards project is completed and the surrounding property prices increase, how much can they increase?

Doubling it or doubling it is about the same.

However, if the cash is in Changyou's account, after Boss Zhou's planning and investment in the mobile Internet era, once several world-class hit games appear, the income in a few years will not be double or triple. .

When Changyou gets rich in a few years, not to mention this terminal building, all the surrounding buildings in the "Changyou Park" can be bought, attracting many Internet companies to come over and turn this area into a real airport. An Internet business district centered on Ziweixing and Changyou.

In this way, the New York Internet business district with Ziweixing and Changyou as the core was established.

"It can be like this, rent first and then buy, and draw up the contract first." Zhou Buqi quickly thought of a solution, "Just like in the football market."

"Football again?"

Zhang Chaoyang was a little amused. He felt that this guy was really able to draw lessons from other things. How could he put the gameplay of football into this project in Changyou Park?

Zhou Buqi said: "In European football, every time the transfer period opens and the club has no money to pay the transfer fee, it will first rent the player with a buyout clause. This has two advantages."

"Tell me."

"First, not having to pay a large amount of money to buy players can reduce the risk of large expenditures in the short term."

"Um."

"Second, after renting the players, if the players do not perform well, they will be returned; if they perform well, the player's value will rise. But the buyout contract has already been drawn up, and the player's immediate value is useless. The buyout transaction can be completed in accordance with the previously signed buyout terms.”

Zhang Chaoyang nodded, "One way is to rent before buying. The terminal is a property owned by the New York government and has been poorly managed. If they have the opportunity to get rid of this burden, they should sign a lease before buying. protocol."

Zhou Buqi continued: "The same goes for the new buildings next to it. They will go directly to equity financing, but we must have the right to buy out. For example, we will transfer 80% of the shares for US$2 billion to start the project. But after 8 years In 10 years, we can buy back 80% of the shares for US$4 billion or US$5 billion. This not only solves the short-term financial pressure, but also retains the possibility of future recovery projects. Real estate projects in the entire headquarters campus It can be carried out.”

Zhang Chaoyang knew that this guy was too busy with his business and had too much work.

The operation of this kind of real estate project will fall on your own shoulders.

There is no way, this kind of real estate project involves too much money, the funds are too large, the relationships are complicated, and there are many tricks in it. Full authority is entrusted to a third party... I really don't feel comfortable.

Either Boss Zhou or Lao Zhang... Looking at the boy's bastard look, he obviously has an attitude of directing his subordinates to work.

hateful!