Days in Hong Kong variety shows

Chapter 80 Trying to get me to buy a building? Don't even think about it.

"There's one more thing," Li Hua said again, just when Cao Tai thought they had finished discussing the important matters and could find a place to have lunch together.

"you say"

"Would you be interested in buying an office building in Central?"

"Interested, but no money," Cao Tai said irritably.

My current bank savings are less than 2000 million yuan, and I need to find a way to get the 400 million US dollars I picked up to a foreign bank to deposit and transfer several times before I can withdraw it for use.

As for the 3 million bonds, they can only be redeemed after the terms are agreed upon with Robinson and he is released; for now, they are just for show and not for immediate redemption.

Even if real estate prices have plummeted to rock bottom in a Central office building, the minimum cost for a small one is still several hundred million. Even if you want to take out a loan, you don't have that many collateral options left.

"Why don't you let me explain first?" Li Hua persisted.

Cao Tai gestured for him to proceed.

"Cointreau Hotel..."

Cao Tai looked at him without saying a word.

Seeing that Cao Tai seemed uninterested in asking further questions, Li Hua had no choice but to continue, "Didn't two time bombs explode on the day the Jundu Hotel opened?"

For safety reasons, the hotel specifically hired a professional team from SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance) in Switzerland to conduct a building quality inspection.

Fortunately, I managed to get some information about the test results...

Cao Tai made a continuing gesture. The 75-story Jundu Hotel, even at the current floor price of around 2000 yuan per square foot, would cost nearly 16 billion yuan. Even if he were sold now, he wouldn't be worth that much.

"It seems there's a problem with the hotel's main support structure. Although it can be repaired, the annual maintenance costs will increase exponentially in the future."

Therefore, Cointreau Hotels & Resorts wants to sell its flagship hotel on Hong Kong Island, since the hotel has already affected the group's stock price.

Since the first trading day after the robbery, the hotel group's stock price has been falling, dropping from 50 billion before the robbery to 43 billion.

Moreover, given the apparent downward trend, the Grand Regency Hotels Group wants to sell this hotel quickly to salvage its share price.

After listening to Li Hua's explanation, Cao Tai stroked his chin with one hand and pondered.

"If that's the case, even if the price is a bit cheaper, you'll still have to spend a lot of money on maintenance every year after you buy it. So it's better to save up enough money and buy another high-quality building." After a long silence, Cao Tai finally spoke.

"The hotel is in a hurry to sell, and a friend of mine inside told me that the price should be less than 10 billion," Li Hua said seriously.

They're willing to sell for 6 million less? That means the total maintenance costs for the hotel will be far more than 6 million.

100 million? 600 million could build a multi-story building in Central.

The Bank of China Tower on Hong Kong Island, which began construction in 85, has 70 floors above ground and a total construction area of ​​12.9 square meters. The final construction cost was only 10 billion.

The land, covering 6700 square meters, was priced at only HK$11 billion. Although the site itself had many development restrictions, BOC Group could own a landmark building for just HK$21 billion.

If someone were to spend 10 billion yuan to buy a dilapidated building, they would be a complete fool who would be ridiculed for decades.

"1 billion is too expensive. I might consider 300 or 400 million." After running out of ideas, Cao Tai joked, since 300 or 400 million wouldn't even buy the land for the Jundu Hotel.

Li Hua looked at him speechlessly. This price wasn't just a deep discount; it was practically cutting open the artery of the Grand Pearl Hotel Group and causing it to bleed.

"Forget it, why is it so hard to earn some pocket money?" Li Hua muttered.

Unfortunately, Mr. Cao's hearing has always been very sharp.

"You're trying to sell me a dilapidated building out of the blue. Did someone bribe you?" Mr. Cao asked jokingly.

"No, that's not it. It's just that the hotel has been spreading rumors that if someone can find a buyer and complete the deal, the middleman can get a 3-5% commission."

I'd like to earn those few points, and the richest person I know on Hong Kong Island is you. Do you think I should try to sell you something?

"Given your background, what more could you possibly need?"

"You don't think that just because I'm surnamed Stanley, I'll get a share of the Earl's profits, do you? Not to mention that our family is six or seven generations removed from the Earl's family, even if we were the Earl's own brothers, we would only receive less than £20 a year in dividends from the Earl's properties."

The fact that the Earl was able to help me get a police superintendent position on Hong Kong Island is simply a result of the lingering connection he had with my father decades ago when we fought side by side on the Far East front.

The largest sum of money I've earned so far is still the commission I get from your "Futai Seafood" business.

"Speaking of which, have you found someone to take over that 5% stake? It's not a good system for it to remain under my girlfriend's name!"

"Let's talk about it when Lola comes to Hong Kong Island! I'll ask her then if I can transfer the shares to her name. After all, she's going to inherit hundreds of millions of pounds of the Earl's fortune, so she probably wouldn't look down on my annual dividends of ten or twenty million Hong Kong dollars."

"Your fellow villagers in Hong Kong openly extort and demand bribes, and you're afraid to even accept a few shares?" Mr. Cao was truly speechless.

"I told you when we first met that I'm different from them," Li Hua said firmly, his eyes shining with an indescribable light.

"William, let's go to the nearest Lei Garden restaurant; it's lunchtime." Mr. Cao didn't care what the difference was between Inspector Li and his fellow villagers.

Of all things under the sun, food is the most important thing, so he directly instructed his driver, William, to find a place to eat.

"William, go to Lee Garden on Laundry Street in Mong Kok," Li Hua instructed as soon as Cao Tai finished speaking.

The nearest Lei Garden restaurant is the one on Mody Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, but Mr. Lee ordered that they go to Laundry Street in Mong Kok, which is farther away. Cao Tai gave him a strange look.

"I need to talk to Inspector Wong from the Kowloon City Police District about something," Inspector Lee explained.

When they arrived at the entrance of Lei Garden Restaurant at 121 Laundry Street, Director Wong Ping Yiu, who had been notified in advance, was already standing at the door in plain clothes, with a large belly.

"Inspector Wong"

"Li Sir, Ah Tai, you're here too!" Huang Bingyao was a little surprised to see Cao Tai getting off the car on the other side.

"I was just talking to Inspector Li about something, and then he invited you to lunch, so I came along for a free meal."

"That's great, it's been so long since we've gotten together. How about we go for a stroll in Sha Tin this afternoon? It's Sunday today."

"Wow, you still bet on horses? I haven't been to a racecourse in ages."

"Just a little hobby."

"Let's go inside and talk while we eat," Li Hua said, seeing the two of them start chatting right at the door.

William ate alone in the lobby, while the three of them chose a small private room.

"Edward, what brings you here for dinner today?" Director Huang asked after taking a sip of warm tea.

Cao Tai, who was in charge of pouring tea, had a flicker of interest when he heard Huang Sir address him.

They were calling each other "Sir" at the door just now, which seemed like a normal colleague relationship. Now they're calling each other by their first names, which suggests they have a very close personal relationship!

"My position has already been decided for the year-end rotation," Li Sir said slowly after taking a sip of tea.

"I haven't heard anything about it?" Senior Superintendent Wong Bing-yiu found it a bit strange, as his connections at headquarters hadn't revealed anything to him. "But it's normal for you to be changing positions, after all, you've been the Sai Kung Commissioner for several years."