Chapter 144 The Problem at Hand
Aside from mentioning their daughter when asking about international schools, Mr. and Mrs. Luo spent the rest of their time discussing the film and television town, seemingly too busy to care about their daughter. Lin Ruoyan couldn't ask too much about other people's privacy, so she focused on the content of the current project.
Boss Luo's company has an open office area through a large glass door. The conference room has blinds, which are usually open so you can see what's going on in the office area.
Initial investigations revealed that although Mr. Luo had already built the first phase of the film and television base, the management team at the time of construction had no distinction between engineering and design. They were all newly recruited personnel with varying degrees of education. There were no architecture majors, and the structural, plumbing, heating, and electrical departments were barely staffed by one person per major. Luo Sihai's wife was also responsible for the costs.
They naively thought that the design institute could handle everything except drawing, but they didn't know that the service level of domestic design institutes is based on the quality you pay for. How could the work that they won at a low price at the beginning be of high quality?
If the design fee isn't high, the design institute rarely sends dedicated on-site personnel, especially in such a remote suburb. A monthly inspection is considered good. The construction team builds according to their own understanding of the blueprints. The house isn't complex, so it's built very quickly. They build whatever works best, much like a self-built farmhouse.
When a non-professional client like Mr. Luo discovers a problem, he can see with the naked eye the difference in appearance from the design institute's drawings. When he wants to make corrections, he is always manipulated by the construction unit and asked to either pay more money or increase the time.
It's hard to put it into words. The team responsible for overseeing the construction project is almost disbanding. They barely finished the first phase, building the office building, but most people don't see much hope for the second phase. Boss Luo is also robbing Peter to pay Paul, and it's hard to pay salaries on time, so many have resigned.
There is no investment promotion team here. It is just Mr. and Mrs. Luo who are trying to trick people into setting up companies and offices here.
In this state, he is definitely not as good as a legitimate large developer. The large developers don't even need to use any means, he may not be able to hold on.
However, without the promise of land, Boss Luo wouldn't have assembled a full team upfront. It all came down to a lack of money. If he had Lin Ruoyan's family background and the promise of spending 100 million per month or else going bankrupt, he'd probably have assembled a full-fledged team long ago.
If Boss Luo had initially invested wisely, hiring an engineering expert like Lao Jiao to lead the project, he wouldn't have been so badly cheated by the construction team. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as regret. What happened is done, and those who haven't experienced it before won't listen to others' advice. Now that they want to do their job properly, they're likely to lose the land for the second phase.
Luo Sihai's wife brought tea and said, "Our conditions here are simple. Compared with your office, it's really shabby. Please don't mind."
Judging from what Lin Ruoyan had seen in the real world, Boss Luo's place was not particularly shabby.
Some small developers, with fewer than four or five employees, including drivers and finance staff, rent offices in budget hotels before a project begins. Once underway, they and their construction teams squeeze into temporary offices constructed from shipping containers. Ultimately, the poorest party in the project is the client, who borrows from banks to secure land and relies on the construction company to advance funding. Approval of drawings relies heavily on the efforts of the design institute. They initially secure the land and loans, and by navigating relationships, they can pull off a profit without any effort.
Luo Sihai had the help of his wife's connections, so he was able to get the local authorities to work, and he managed to build the first phase after some difficulty. This was much better than those projects that were delayed for a long time and could not be started.
Unfortunately, selling residential properties is more profitable. The red line for cultivated land cannot be crossed, and the town's available land resources are limited, making it impossible to easily gamble all the land on one company. With current policies encouraging real estate, everyone is eager to quickly sell land and make a quick buck. If new policies are introduced in the future, who knows whether building a small town will still be profitable.
Following the greetings from Luo Sihai's wife, Lin Ruoyan also indirectly understood the mayor's "concern", which was that with the developer's offer as a backdrop, he wanted Luo Sihai to increase the money.
Luo Sihai is also leasing land, but the project is developing a film and television town, essentially a tourist attraction. This attracts film crews and could potentially generate long-term income for the town. However, if the large developers build and sell the houses, and if people actually move in, other industries in the town could also develop.
Luo Sihai said, "I'm a little skeptical about whether that developer really wants to acquire the land. Perhaps it's some kind of excuse to get us to raise the price. After all, there are so many commercial housing units under construction within Beijing's Second Ring Road. Who would buy a house in a suburban town?"
Qin Shuang had previously checked the name of the developer and also used other connections to inquire about it. He found out that the big developer was operating to acquire land in several remote counties in Beijing. It had both background and strength, but there was no accurate information on whether it would acquire land here.
Lin Ruoyan said, "This developer is also looking at projects in other districts and counties. They have some strength."
Luo Sihai's wife was naturally unsure. Although the mayor was a relative, if the developer was not telling the truth, the information they received would be even less reliable.
At this moment, several directors who had looked at the entire film and television base also went to the conference room and talked about the project problems in a subtle way.
Zhao Xingxing from the design department found the current, unconventional style difficult to accept aesthetically and suggested finding a better planning and design firm for the second phase. Lao Jiao from the engineering department offered a technical perspective, noting areas where corners had been cut, but stating that the house was generally simple and structurally sound.
Lü Gan from the Marketing Department shared his views on the needs of the film festival. If the film festival is considered a marketing event lasting two or three days, the main venue is actually sufficient.
We'll just need to set up a stage. The public areas of this office building are rather plainly decorated, and the space is limited. If we were to hold a gathering of a hundred people, it would be difficult to fit it inside the building, so we'd have to find open space outside. The weather in October is also acceptable, so we can use the outdoors as the main venue for the event. The architectural backdrop is fine, and we just need to be able to store the important equipment inside the office building even if it's windy or rainy.
The preparatory group can also temporarily use the empty rooms in the office building that are not rented out. Those rooms are white with floor-to-ceiling lights and electricity. They are too simple to use as offices, but they can be used for temporary scheduling and storage of student activities.
The question is, where will the invited guests rest?
Luo Sihai said: "My conference room and office area can be used as a temporary rest area. In addition, some big-name artists also have their own nanny cars. We may not be able to provide other things here, but we still have enough parking spaces."
"I saw in the film festival planning charter that we need to provide buses for the students from each school participating in the film festival, based on the number of students, so that they can travel between here and the schools in the city. The film festival lasts for three days, and the activities are quite intensive," Qin Shuang said. "It seems that it would be difficult for the bus to park here."
The film and television studio built a gate with the words "XX Film and Television Base" written on it. It was powered by electricity and had lights. It cost a lot of money, but they didn't consider the height of buses that could pass through the gate. Buses had to park outside the wall, but private cars and nanny vans could be accommodated inside the gate.
Lu Gan said: "In fact, we need to set aside some space in the parking lot for event venues."
Luo Sihai called over his design team and had them pull out the blueprints to help finalize the site plan. They determined where the vehicles would be parked and how the available rooms in the building would be allocated, all of which were determined on-site using the blueprints.
Zhao Xingxing showed her strong hand-drawing skills. She also carried sketch paper and pen with her. She spread out the sketch paper on the original drawing and drew everything that was confirmed on the spot today. Her company must keep a copy.
Feng Qiang asked a question: "There doesn't seem to be a cafeteria here, and it's not within easy walking distance to the town. How will we solve the problem of food when we have activities? Many people won't be able to go home for lunch."
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