Top of the big era

The Silicon Valley side has come to an end. Zhou Buqi is heading east, and his first stop is New York.

What is the New York headquarters plan like?

Is the location in Queens really feasible?

Facts have proved that Boss Zhou’s cautious response in this matter avoided a serious public relations crisis that Ziweixing and Changyou might encounter next.

Wilson Miller, who has been in charge of this matter here in New York, was also very emotional, "I asked you to tell me accurately, they are opposed to 'gentrification'."

“Gentrification?”

The other party said a very unusual combination of words that was not easy to understand, but Zhou Buqi didn't quite understand it.

Miller said: "The establishment of commercial districts and skyscrapers will gradually reduce the living space of civilians. For example, the original small restaurants will no longer exist, prices will rise, and traffic will become more congested. The introduction of talents for high-tech positions will most likely increase. The demand for housing has led to an increase in rents, etc. These potential problems have made ordinary people feel uneasy."

"Um."

Zhou Buqi nodded, just as he expected.

Miller hesitated for a moment and then said helplessly: "The poorer you are, the stronger the resistance is. This is New York, the place with the largest gap between rich and poor in the world. The rich can be the richest man in the world, but the poor can only sleep On the streets. There's a very strong anti-rich sentiment here...I mean in places like Queens."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "So we should still look for opportunities in Manhattan."

Miller said: "Land is at a premium here in Manhattan, and there is no extra land to plan a large-scale business park."

"Really?" Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows, "I remember the last time I talked to Mayor Bloomberg, he seemed to have mentioned that he intended to promote the Hudson Park Plaza project and carry out a major renovation there. ."

Miller immediately rejected this idea, "This is impossible. The project in Hudson Park... I don't know if it can be successful. The resistance is too great. Even if it can be successful, it will only be a public space and must be coordinated. A commercial real estate project in the tourism industry. Moreover, for that project to be operational, all aspects need to be coordinated, including changes to the park’s planning and the design of the subway, which takes too long.”

"What should we do?"

"The plan to build a self-built headquarters campus is impossible, at least not possible here in Manhattan. However, if it is not self-built, there are still several good options."

"Oh?" Zhou Buqi didn't force anything, and settled for the next best thing, "Tell me about it."

Miller said: "I have been communicating with the city hall. After learning that we were not optimistic about the Queens plan, they came up with three more plans. First, the large industrial city in Sunset Park can be chosen at will. , Design it arbitrarily, even build a building.”

"Sunset Park?" Zhou Buqi frowned slightly, "Isn't this Manhattan?"

Wilson Miller was a little embarrassed, "Yes, this is Brooklyn."

Zhou Buqi was speechless, "This won't work!"

Brooklyn is poorer than Queens!

When it comes to choosing the location of the headquarters, even Queens has been given up, and it is even less likely to go to Brooklyn.

Miller continued: "The second option, I think is very good, and it is also the option strongly recommended by the city hall. It is the landmark Farley Building."

"where?"

"Just across from Madison Square Garden, oh, there's the Postal Service Headquarters Building, named in honor of the famous Postmaster General James Farley."

"oh!"

Zhou Buqi suddenly realized that it was that building.

This is amazing.

It was a very large building, covering an area as large as three football fields.

"Is this feasible? The post office headquarters... must be at least a hundred years old, right?"

Zhou Buqi was not opposed, but worried.

This postal headquarters building is located in the center of Manhattan. The architectural style is full of Greek style, and the huge Corinthian colonnade is very spectacular.

This is a New York landmark and a business card of the United States.

Renovate such a national historical building and then provide it to commercial companies to make money?

Is this what capital society does?

Miller smiled and said: "Yes, this was built 100 years ago and is a nationally protected cultural relic... But it doesn't matter. The postal industry has withered and has been vacant for more than two years. New York City has a plan and says it wants to Transform it into a train station. Transforming it into a train station is definitely not as meaningful as transforming it into a commercial project. The city hall also strongly recommends this project."

"In a moment..." Zhou Buqi looked at the time and saw that it was already getting late, "Let's go take a look tomorrow."

Miller said with a smile: "There is also a third plan, which is the Lord \u0026 Taylor flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It is a 12-story building."

"Lord \u0026 Taylor?" Zhou Buqi is not a fashionista after all, "What is this?"

Miller said: "This is the most senior department store in the United States. It mainly sells clothing and has a history of more than 100 years. For more than 100 years, they have been sticking to their flagship store on Fifth Avenue. Every year The Lord \u0026 Taylor Christmas window display is a must-visit for all tourists coming to New York. However, times have changed, the emergence of the Internet and the financial crisis have caused difficulties in their operations and they have to sell the entire property."

"This is acceptable."

For Zhou Buqi, this was relatively easy. It's just the headquarters of a century-old store. It's just a private company with limited influence.

Miller shook his head. "This transaction will be easier to handle, but the department store is not bankrupt yet. They just want to sell the building to solve the company's difficulties, and they will not move out in the short term."

The next day, we directly targeted the target, contacted the people in the city hall, and went to the Rafa Building together.

Very magnificent.

It is only 4 stories high, but it covers a really large area. Only national buildings more than a hundred years ago could use the land so wastefully in such a central area.

In order to show friendship, the city hall sent a Chinese woman named Yang Jingjing.

But she didn't speak much Chinese, so she communicated directly in English, "This is a historical building. Although it takes up too much land, it cannot be demolished. As early as the 1960s, the government was questioned by the public because of the demolition of the Pennsylvania Television Station. Historic buildings are not being protected properly, which is why the building protection law was introduced.”

Zhou Buqi nodded and expressed his understanding. This should be similar to the building protection in central London. "The outside is unchanged, but the inside can be modified, right?"

Yang Jingjing said with a smile: "Of course, if the Farley Building wants to transform from the postal headquarters into a technological industrial zone, it will need large-scale internal renovation."

After walking in, Zhou Buqi's complexion changed slightly and he felt like his brain was numb.

How to transform this?

This has to be done all over again!

Yang Jingjing saw Boss Zhou's doubts and quickly explained: "Before I came, Michael specifically informed me that he was very optimistic about transforming this place into a commercial center. This is the property of the municipal government, and... you know Yes, this is a national cultural relic and cannot be sold."

"Um?"

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows and heard something in her words.

Yang Jingjing said: "After the renovation is completed, this place will only be rented and not sold. However, it can be renovated according to your ideas. Michael has always hoped to improve the technological component of New York's industrial structure. To this end, the city government will definitely show its utmost sincerity ."

Zhou Buqi sighed, "If it's just a general building renovation, this kind of cultural relic-level building renovation... it will cost a lot."

"Of course, the additional costs will be borne by the property owners. The Building Protection Law has stipulated that the government has the responsibility to protect historical buildings."

"Um."

In this way, Zhou Buqi felt relieved.

New York City gives you money, that’s great!

Don’t don’t want it for nothing!

Although this building is not high, it covers a large area, with a total of 4 floors and a total area of ​​68,000 square meters. After some planning, it can provide 4,000-5,000 jobs.

However, if you want to completely renovate this place, 1 billion US dollars is definitely not enough... maybe 2 billion US dollars is needed.

If Zhou Buqi was asked to pay the money, he would definitely not be willing to do so.

Fortunately, this building is a property of the New York City, and they have "historic building preservation" funding. Then, if we give some appropriate tax rebates and rent reductions, the matter will basically be settled.

After their trip to New York, Zhou Buqi and his party continued eastward to London!

This year's Champions League final will be held at Wembley Stadium in London!

The two sides facing each other are surprisingly the two most watched and powerful teams in European football today - Manchester United VS Barcelona!

This is definitely a tit-for-tat battle.

At this time in the previous life, a group of old, weak, and disabled Manchester United players were forcefully brought into the finals by Ferguson, and then collided with Barcelona, ​​the "Dream Team Three". They were really abused and lost their temper.

During the game, the camera showed a close-up of Ferguson and found that his hands were constantly shaking.

This is really powerless.

The gap in strength is too great. Even if Sir Alex Ferguson's methods are superb, he cannot make up for the gap in absolute strength between the two sides.

This life is different.

With the support of boss Zhou Da, Manchester United's team's lineup has been greatly supplemented. In terms of hard power on paper, it is no weaker than Barcelona!

This is the Champions League final. No matter how busy Zhou Buqi is, he must take time to have a dinner with the players before the game to encourage them and cheer them up.

Because it was the final, even Baoshan came over and wanted to watch the game live.

However, Baoshan did not talk about football on the plane, but was very concerned about the New York headquarters plan. "Will the New York authorities really approve giving us the postal headquarters building?"

Zhou Buqi pulled her and sat beside her, smiling and saying, "That's about right."

"Will you spend a lot of money on renovations?"

"right."

"Really?"

"It depends on the determination of Mayor Michael Bloomberg." Zhou Buqi generally doesn't like to play conspiracy theories, but the mayor is too supportive of himself, so he inevitably doesn't think too much, "Power must have a selfish tendency. No one is exempt from vulgarity.”