Goldin’s Guangzhou towers fail to sell at auction for the second time this month, even with a 36 per cent discount

The twin towers of Fuda Real Estate Development at the Guangzhou Science City were offered for auction on Monday at a starting price of 1.64 billion yuan

The offer, at a 36 per cent discount to its 2.56-billion yuan valuation, failed to secure a single bid on Taobao

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An undated photograph of the unfinished headquarters of Matsunichi Communications, renamed Goldin Properties, in the Guangdong provincial capital of Guangzhou. Photo: Gaoloumi.com

Published: 8:01pm, 28 Dec 2022Updated: 8:43pm, 28 Dec 2022

The Hong Kong-based developer Pan Sutong failed to sell his half-completed Guangzhou commercial real estate project for the second time this month, which bodes ill for the one-time property magnate and his cash-starved company Goldin Group.

The twin towers of Fuda Real Estate Development at the Guangzhou Science City were offered for sale on Monday at a starting price of 1.64 billion yuan (US$25 million) a 36 per cent discount to its 2.56-billion yuan valuation, but failed to secure a single bid on Taobao.

The flop was the second setback this month for Goldin, which first put the Matsunichi Communications headquarters site on the auction block on December 8 at the starting price of 2.05 billion yuan. That sale did not receive any bid.

Fuda, a unit of Goldin’s Matsunichi arm, has gone bankrupt with 8.1 billion yuan in debt. Pan, who expanded his operations from Matsunichi’s electronics business in 1993 into a finance and property empire – with several of China’s tallest super skyscrapers under construction – stepped down as Goldin’s chairman amid the debt woes.

Pan Sutong, the founder of Goldin Group and owner of Gold Mount, drew the barrier 8 for the Hong Kong Derby Barrier Draw 2017 at the Sha Tin racecourse parade ring on16 March 2017. Photo: SCMP

Fuda’s project comprises 226,000 square metres (2.43 million square feet) of lettable space in two buildings: a 47-storey hotel that remains half built, and a 21-storey office tower with a shopping centre and a car park underneath.

It is the latest from Pan’s real estate portfolio to be offered for sale. Goldin sold its former corporate headquarter building in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay in September for less than HK$7 billion, 30 per cent less than its HK$10 billion estimated value.