THE lure of a free five-metre boat has helped the pre-sale of 45 luxury riverside villas in a proposed $10 billion urban city development at Marina Cove, Hangzhou, China. The developers of the Hangzhou Qiantang River City Development offered the boats to the first 50 buyers of the villas last week. Prices for the villas start at $1.5 million and rise to more than $2.5 million. The 65 riverside resort villas, which come complete with their own individual private yacht berth, are the first stage of a massive new urban centre for Hangzhou. The capital of Zhejiang province, which has a population of more than 1.3 million, has undergone rapid industrial development in recent years, which has led to an increased demand for high quality real estate projects. The Hangzhou Qiantang River City project, which will take between seven and 10 years to complete, will be marketed and sold through property consultants C. Y. Leung and Co. C. Y. Leung, who recently broke away from Jones Lang Wootton, has set up his own agency to concentrate on the booming Chinese property market. According to a spokesman for C. Y. Leung and Co, about 70 per cent or 45 of the first stage units have been sold for a total value of more than $100 million. The units were marketed to overseas Chinese living in Hangzhou and international businessmen with interests in the province. The master plan for the 144-hectare Hangzhou Qiantang River City site encompasses villas, multi-storey and high rise residential buildings, office buildings, shopping malls and hotels. Public facilities will include international schools, clinics, hospitals, government offices, police stations and public transport interchanges. Located on the southern bank of the Qiantang River in Xianshan City, the property development is the largest investment undertaken by foreign interests in Hangzhou. The development consortium, led by manufacturer Hotin Industries, includes several prominent industrialists, businessmen and academics from Hongkong and Macau. Hotin, which has a staff of more than 200 people, has been involved in a number of property developments during the past few years in Macau and China. International architects, John Portman and Associates, has been appointed as the project's design consultants, and Calfornia-based Richardson Nagy Martin will do the villa design and landscaping. The Zhejiang Building Design and Research Institute has also been appointed as architect and engineer. A spokesman for C. Y. Leung said the residential component of the urban centre would be marketed and built first, followed by the commercial buildings and other facilities. The residential component will include the villas, to be completed in 1995, and a range of medium-and high-rise apartment blocks which will offer one level or multi-level townhouse units. The villas will be reached by either foot, car, or via a network of canals. , and residents will have access to a private clubhouse, yacht club and heliport.