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The villas near Beijing's scenic Yuyuantan Park are surrounded by high grey walls. Photo: Simon Song

The house that Gu built: disgraced Chinese general developed luxury homes under military guise

Gu Junshan behind record-setting Beijing real estate complex that local officials dared not question

A large piece of land near west Beijing's scenic Yuyuantan Park that was ostensibly a site for military research and development was instead developed by disgraced former PLA deputy logistics chief Gu Junshan into one of the capital's most expensive luxury residential projects.

The revelation, by mainland financial news portal Caixin, comes after a military court on Monday announced that Gu, 58, had been given a suspended death sentence with a two-year reprieve for corruption and abuse of power.

Caixin reported that Gu was a key officer behind the development of the site.

Read more: Ex-army leader Xu Caihou had 'a tonne of cash' in basement

It also revealed that one of the luxurious villas there belonged to disgraced former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission Xu Caihou, who died in March.

The 8-hectare compound now houses 11 villas and four buildings with 106 luxury flats.

But when the land was requisitioned a decade ago - causing the relocation of 1,024 households - it was done so under the guise of military research, so that local officials would not dare question the move, Caixin reported.

It cited a government document that was issued in 2005, when Gu was in charge of the PLA's infrastructure and barracks construction.

Local officials and community workers quoted by Caixin said they were aware that the procedures for land requisition had been "incomplete", but said that as they had been told it was a military research project of national importance they had not dared to ask questions.

A bird's-eye view of the area on Google Maps and an on-site inspection by a reporter revealed the site to now be home to two rows of villas with coral-coloured roofs, including six town houses in the back row, that surround a larger mansion with a grey roof in the centre.

All the villas are surrounded by high grey walls and with security guards at every entry.

The security system of the villas appeared to be on a much higher level than that of the flats.

When the flats were sold to the public in 2011 they set a new record for Beijing real estate with a starting price of 300,000 yuan (HK$374,000) per square metre.

All the flats are between 320 square metres and 480 square metres, according to advertisements cited by Caixin.

The basement of Xu's villa is 2,000 square metres, according to an earlier report by the .

Yet when villagers were forced to relocate to make way for the development the compensation granted was far below market value. Most of the villagers, who were relocated in 2006 and 2007, were given compensation of 10,000 yuan per square metre, though property prices around the site were double that rate.

Some villagers said they had been forced to move.

"After the forced demolition, my husband suffered from depression and anxiety. It cost us more than 100,000 yuan to pay medical bills," villager Li Jing told Caixin

Villager Zhang Weimin said he saw soldiers lay the foundations in 2006 before a real estate developer took over. Civilians were forbidden from staying nearby.

The developer, Zhonghe Group, was founded in 2005 by two businessmen from Hebei . Caixin said one of the founders, Zhou Jinhui, had military connections, which helped him obtain control of the project.

President Xi Jinping kicked off the anti-corruption campaign over two years ago.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Gu's military project: luxury homes
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