Sometimes it pays to be the last one standing.
A nondescript seven-story brick building in Longhua District, Shenzhen, recently made headlines for being the last remaining 'nail house' – a property whose owner stubbornly refuses to sell – in a plot of land across the street from the Shenzhen North Railway Station.
The total estimated price for the building? According to the owner, RMB16 million for a roughly 1,000-square-meter property.
The building, along with two others, was slated for destruction as early as 2010, when the city government first designated the land for railway station use.
Despite the fact that all three hold-out houses were unfinished, their owners stuck it out for seven years, negotiating with the local government. Meanwhile, market prices rose steadily: according to property agents, even secondhand housing in the area is now selling in the range of RMB50,000 to RMB55,000 per square meter.
In the first half of this year, two of the hold-out house owners finally signed agreements with the local government and received compensation. Both 'houses' were torn down not long afterwards.
The other two 'nail houses' were torn down earlier this year
Ms. Yang, owner of the last building standing, originally leased her 120-square-meter plot of land in 1993. Due to expired certification and other 'various reasons,' though, construction on the planned residential building was never completed.
At the beginning of November, Yang agreed to a compensation package from the local government and last Thursday, the lone nail house was finally torn down.
Based on a previously negotiated rate of RMB6,548 per square meter for the area, local media originally estimated compensation to be around RMB6.5 million. The owner later revealed the price as RMB16 million. Not bad for what, before 2010, must have seemed like a failed investment.
According to local news reports, the area where Yang's building formerly stood will become a new addition to the Shenzhen North Railway Station.
UPDATE (November 22, 2017 at 1.10pm CST): This article has been updated to reflect the confirmed compensation price for the nail house.
[Images via Southern Metropolis Daily]
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