Fang Bai returned to the shopping mall and called Ye Fan back.
Ye Fan asked if Fang Bai was at the shopping mall, wanting to meet and talk.
"What's the big secret?"
Fang Bai waited for about ten minutes, then President Ye arrived and invited him to the office.
At this time, there were only the two of them in the office, plus Fang Shi, with no outsiders.
"Boss Fang, it's like this. I've seen you both busy these past two days, so there hasn't been time to discuss the loan. After I reported Xinghai Company's situation to the Wen City head office and applied, Xinghai Company's credit loan limit can be increased to 20 million yuan. If Xinghai Shopping Mall is expanded, put into use, and operates well, the loan limit can be further increased," Ye Fan said with a smile, observing Fang Bai, who could make decisions.
Xinghai Company has over 10 million yuan in cash deposited in their sub-branch, which hasn't been used yet, but is estimated to be used for investment in Xinghai Plaza soon.
After the lottery event, Xinghai Plaza became known throughout the city. The land Xinghai Company bought has appreciated in value. If Xinghai Plaza is built, it won't need much promotion; people in Wen City will know about this comprehensive shopping mall, and its future is bright.
Additionally, Xinghai Shopping Mall's business is getting better and better, with an estimated monthly revenue reaching 2 million yuan and a profit likely not less than 500,000 yuan. Paying a few million in interest annually won't be a problem.
Furthermore, Xinghai Company actively pays taxes, is trustworthy, has a good relationship with the county, and has good background connections.
Therefore, after investigation, inspection, and analysis, the head office agreed to increase Xinghai Company's credit loan to 20 million yuan, and the loan interest can also be preferential.
Fang Bai touched President Ye and unceremoniously used detection on him, quickly understanding the reason why the company could increase its limit.
He certainly needed a loan; with money, he could acquire more land.
He pondered for a moment, frowning: "We don't lack cash right now, and your loan interest is too high."
Ye Fan persuaded: "It's like this, after the New Year, all banks adjusted their benchmark interest rates. Currently, the two-year fixed deposit rate is a bit lower than before. Your credit loan limit is relatively high. If the loan is less than 5 million yuan, the annual interest for a two-year term is only 14.15%. But if the loan amount is 20 million yuan, the risk is greater, so the preferential rate can only be 14.3%."
Through Ye Fan's information, Fang Bai knew that the bank had adjusted the benchmark interest rate again.
At the beginning of the year, he had borrowed 2 million yuan, and the annual interest for a two-year term was as high as 15.8%.
Only a month had passed, and it had dropped by two points. The fluctuation was truly significant. In later generations, such a large adjustment would never occur.
In the next two to three years, bank benchmark interest rates would fluctuate greatly.
If the loan interest was 14.3%, Fang Bai could accept it in this era.
"Okay, I'll discuss it with Fang Bai's parents first, about how much capital is needed. I'll give you an answer tomorrow," Fang Bai replied after some thought.
Xinghai Company needed a bank loan, but it was not convenient to discuss it over the phone.
Ye Fan said with a smile, "Alright, then I won't disturb you further. If you need anything, call me, and I'll personally bring people to handle it."
In the past, people came to him for loans. Now, he had to go to them. There was no choice; who told them they were super large clients, the only one in all of Wen City.
After President Ye left, Fang Shi finally spoke to his son: "Son, do we still need a loan?"
Fang Bai already had a plan and said, "Of course we do. The family's disposable investment capital is about 15 million yuan.
I plan to build the first phase of the shopping mall, covering 5,000 square meters, with one basement level and five stories above ground, for a total construction area of approximately 28,000 square meters. The total cost for the main construction, including decoration and shelves, will be around 22 million yuan. We need to budget 25 million yuan, and our family's funds are only enough for the initial investment.
For the subsequent continuous decoration, we will be short of money. We can't wait until we're short of money to get a loan. What if the situation changes and the loan isn't approved? Loan changes are not uncommon. I'd rather pay a bit more interest.
It's easy to get loans at the beginning of the year; all banks have loan targets. It will be difficult to get loans by the end of the year.
The money our shopping mall earns should be kept as backup and not entirely invested in projects that haven't started earning yet. Many bosses go bankrupt due to cash flow problems. We must learn from their lessons and not follow their old path.
The first phase of construction is estimated to take about a year.
If we operate our own brand stores, it's estimated to require an additional 30 to 50 million yuan.
However, I don't think we can manage that many brand stores. We need to attract some businesses to move in, so we won't need that much capital.
But if we want to run a comprehensive supermarket, it will require at least 5 million yuan, but that's a matter for a year from now."
The first phase, covering 5,000 square meters, will only have one basement level, mainly for the supermarket.
The remaining 30,000-plus square meters of land will be built later when there's money, and at that time, two underground parking levels will be constructed.
During the first phase of construction, when laying the foundation, the foundation for the remaining 35,000 square meters of land in the future must be considered. Connecting them will be troublesome, so the best way is, of course, to build it all at once.
However, Fang Bai does not have enough funds to build Xinghai Plaza, which covers 40,000 square meters, all at once. It would require at least 200 million yuan in total investment.
Even if the bank dared to lend Fang Bai 200 million yuan, Fang Bai would not dare to use that money to invest in Xinghai Plaza. Spreading the net too wide at once would be unmanageable; the annual interest alone would be 20 to 30 million yuan.
Currently, Fang Bai only wants to make the easiest money in this era, such as opening supermarkets and home appliance malls. Whichever is more profitable, he will do first.
Fang Shi understood his son's words and asked, "Then how much do we need to borrow? And when?"
"Let's get the 20 million yuan loan down recently. With our disposable 15 million yuan, after allocating 20 to 30 million yuan for the shopping mall investment, only a few million yuan will remain.
I also want to borrow an additional 20 million yuan to purchase land, buying up and hoarding all the vacant land nearby. In a few years, we can build residential buildings to sell, or just sell the land," Fang Bai had this idea long ago, but he hadn't yet established connections with the county.
The currently owned 40,000 square meters of commercial land must be built according to the agreement between both parties, with a time limit. If he does not invest in construction, he will have to return the land and only receive the original 2 million yuan land payment.
If he wants to hoard residential land, the land price will be much higher, and the situation is different.
Of course, this depends on whether the county sells it. There is planned land every year.
Although there was a previous agreement stating that Xinghai Company has priority in purchasing land near Xinghai Plaza, it still depends on whether the county sells it.
When he has time, Fang Bai will ask the County Leader about the situation.
With more residential buildings near the shopping mall, for Xinghai Plaza, the residents nearby will be its long-term customers.
Fang Bai also has an idea: as long as he acquires enough land in the surrounding area, for example, land originally worth 1 billion yuan.
But as soon as the Oubei Wharf bridge is connected, it will immediately rise to over 1.5 billion yuan, and Xinghai Plaza will also become more valuable, more than doubling.
If the government is unwilling to build the bridge, then he will invest in donating the bridge. It doesn't need to be that long; an investment of a few tens of millions of yuan would be enough. It should have height restrictions, ideally only allowing small cars and pedestrians, not large vehicles.
The money gained from the appreciation of these lands will make the cost of donating the bridge seem insignificant.
However, if too little land is hoarded, no boss would be willing to donate a bridge. Who would do something that results in a loss?
Fang Bai's plan is very clever. In his previous life, no investor did this, mainly because they didn't calculate this far.
Of course, if the Wen City government is willing to build a bridge at Oubei Wharf, that would be even better, but Fang Bai thinks it's a bit difficult. The Dong'ou Bridge was still built according to historical trajectory because it could connect to the island in the lake, saving one bridge.
Now, Fang Bai has set up a big net. He drew it on a blank paper and told his father directly to buy the nearby land and hoard it, without exposing the ultimate goal to the outside world.
No one would have thought of the idea of a private individual donating a bridge if the government doesn't build it. The local government leaders would probably wake up laughing in their sleep.
Who could come up with such a crazy idea? After all, the cost of building a bridge is not a few million yuan. Even for a six to seven hundred meter cross-river bridge, even with cost-saving measures, tens of millions of yuan would have to be invested.
Fang Bai needs to review for and attend university. These matters will mainly be handled by his father; a little over a year is enough for him to become familiar with them.
Over the past six months, Fang Bai has continuously instilled business concepts in Fang Bai's parents, coupled with hands-on practical guidance. Fang Bai's parents have already learned how to operate a shopping mall.
With nearly another six months, Fang Bai feels that by then, his father will be able to independently handle some business matters. For more difficult issues, Fang Bai will assist.
After Fang Bai goes to university, he will not have time to manage his business in Wen City. His focus will shift to Shanghai, mainly on technology companies.
Fang Shi listened to his son's plan and said with some surprise, "Son, your idea is a bit crazy, but it seems to make sense. The land in the city center near the wharf is so expensive, and it's only separated by a river, but the price difference is many times over."
"I guess, everyone is short of houses to live in now. The average price of Wendijinyuan in the city, which was just completed last year, was 1,500 yuan, and it sold quite well. All real estate companies will flock in when they see money to be made. Now there are already signs of large-scale construction of residential buildings, and land prices will naturally rise.
In another two or three years, they will rise even higher." Fang Bai didn't talk to his father about speculating in real estate. In the next few years, he would let his father hoard land as much as possible, and then build after 1995.
Leaving aside other things, if Xinghai Plaza is built and becomes popular, the surrounding land prices will also rise rapidly.
After a year, investors will definitely realize this and then start hoarding land.
Therefore, if you want to hoard land, it's best to do it this year.
Moreover, in the coming years, no matter the price of the surrounding land, as long as it's not outrageous, try to buy it.
Hoarding land in Wen City before 2000 is more cost-effective than in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The operating cycle is short. Sell it all before 2003 and switch to first-tier cities.
Fang Shi asked, "Then how much land do we need to acquire to offset the bridge's price difference? Building a bridge isn't cheap, is it?"
Fang Bai thought for a moment: "The bridge doesn't need to be too long, about one kilometer will do. It's planned to be built in 1998 and open to traffic in one or two years. The cost is estimated to be 50 million to 100 million yuan, and it can be named Star Sea Bridge; we'll only calculate the price difference in residential land appreciation, with a guaranteed rise to 80% of the city's price. That would require land worth 200 million yuan. If we build houses to sell, a few tens of millions of yuan worth of land would be enough to make a profit from housing prices.
Now that land is cheap, hoarding 200 mu is enough."
Fang Bai has already been too conservative. According to the housing prices speculated in Wen City in 2003, the cost of residential land per mu in the urban area was at least 3 million yuan, and sometimes as much as 5 million yuan.
In 2000, before housing prices were speculated, the cost of residential land per mu in the urban area was estimated to be around 1.5 million yuan, and the land price near Oubei Wharf was only one-third of the urban area.
If the bridge is connected, the land price and housing prices at Oubei Wharf will rise to 80%-90% of the city center, but if it is close to Xinghai Plaza, the land price will definitely exceed the urban area.
In later generations, housing prices around Wanda Plaza are more than 20% higher than other areas, and even as high as 50%.
Currently, land prices are cheap. Fang Bai's shopping mall land was 33,000 yuan per mu, with a mandatory time-limited planning, which resulted in a preferential price.
For residential land, currently, even the most expensive would not exceed 70,000 yuan per mu.
If his own company builds houses, hoarding over a hundred mu of residential land and developing it after the bridge is built would be enough to cover the cost of building the bridge.
Of course, the more land is hoarded now, the more will be earned in the future.
Even without a bridge, land prices will rise rapidly in two years, at least five times, and Fang Bai will also make a big profit. It won't take him much time; he just needs to draw a circle, and the rest will be handled by his father.
Before investing in and building the shopping mall, he plans to talk to Lu Dahai and acquire his engineering team.
Instead of letting others earn the construction money, Fang Bai would rather invest in his own engineering team. Even if he doesn't want to engage in real estate development, there are still plenty of projects to do.
If the other party is unwilling, Fang Bai will find another engineering team to invest in; there will always be someone willing.