The Shanghai municipal government yesterday suspended a tender for a prime development site following pressure from the central government, sources said.
The site, on the Pudong side of the Huangpu river, is next to Shimao Riviera Gardens, one of the most expensive residential blocks in the city with prices of more than 30,000 yuan per square metre.
Agents describe the waterfront property as among the most desirable in the city.
Leading developers from the mainland and Hong Kong, including Beijing and Shanghai companies, Sun Hung Kai Properties and a joint bid by the Hutchison group and a Shanghai investor, had made offers for the site.
The reserve bid for the parcel was 2.37 billion yuan, but most believed the final price would be far higher, setting a new benchmark for prime property in the city and frustrating official efforts to cool property inflation.
The result of the tender was to be announced yesterday afternoon but the sale was postponed because the Shanghai municipal government, facing growing impatience from Beijing over soaring property prices, was fearful of the impact it would have on overall prices, said one property agent.
