Recently, news spread that Wuhan will build a super-kilometer "Phoenix Tower." Wuhan officials said they were "completely unaware" of it, but this reveals that the "high-rise impulse" in various places is increasing rather than decreasing.
　　In July last year, Broad Group announced with much fanfare in Changsha that it would build a 208-story, 838-meter-high Sky City. Once completed, it would surpass the Burj Khalifa to become the world's tallest building. The total project cost is about 9 billion yuan, and it was expected to top out in April 2014 and be ready for occupancy in May or June. It is understood that on June 5, 2012, the Wangcheng District Government of Changsha signed a strategic agreement with Broad Sustainable Building (BSB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Broad Group, and the construction time for Sky City was estimated at 7 months. According to the official website of BSB, the foundation construction unit for the project is China Construction Fifth Engineering Division, and the investor is Sky City Investment Company.
　　But now, little news is heard about the progress of this "world's tallest building." On June 25, a reporter from National Business Daily visited the Sky City site and found weeds growing around the foundation stone, watermelons planted all over the empty construction site, and no sign of construction at all.
　　Part of the Site Turns into a Watermelon Field
　　According to reports at the time, on July 20, 2013, Zhang Yue, chairman and president of Broad Group, landed in a private plane on an empty plot in Huilong Village, Dazehu Subdistrict, Wangcheng District, Changsha, kicking off the groundbreaking ceremony for Sky City. According to Broad Group, Sky City will cover an area of more than 1 million square meters, accommodate 30,000 people, and be completed in just 7 months (excluding foundation construction). Zhang Yue announced that Sky City was expected to top out in April 2014 and be ready for occupancy in May or June.
　　How is the project progressing? On the afternoon of June 25, a reporter from National Business Daily went to Huilong Village, Wangcheng District, Changsha. An empty plot of more than 100 mu in front of the village is the site of the Sky City project. According to the official website of the Wangcheng District Land and Resources Bureau of Changsha, Broad acquired the land in two auctions, with a total transaction price of 520 million yuan.
　　There is a distance of several hundred meters from Jinxing Avenue to the Sky City project site. For this project, the local government specially built a municipal road. The reporter saw that part of the more than 100 mu of land for Sky City is an excavated plot now covered by water, about 20 to 30 mu; most of the remaining land is planted with crops such as watermelons and corn (2398, 1.00, 0.04%).
　　At the end of the municipal road, there is a small path leading directly to the center of the site. Along one side is the water surface, with a warning sign reading "Beware of Falling into Water," and on the other side are corn, peppers, and watermelons. In the middle of a watermelon field, a middle-aged man was applying fertilizer. He told the reporter that he started growing watermelons here this year and that no one was managing the site.
　　Besides the farmers planting melons and fruits, there is also a security guard at the site responsible for watching over it. He told the reporter that after July last year, there had been no construction there and it had remained idle until now. He not only guards the site but also needs to watch over the prefabricated housing of the contractor, China Construction Fifth Engineering Division. However, the prefabricated housing set up by China Construction Fifth Engineering Division at the site had its doors tightly closed.
　　The reporter then contacted the office of China Construction Fifth Engineering Division. A staff member said that as the contractor, whether and when to start construction depends on instructions from the client (Broad). Wu Yi, director of the publicity department of China Construction Fifth Engineering Division, said that all interviews regarding Sky City are released uniformly by Broad, and they do not accept interviews about the project.
　　When the reporter returned from the Sky City site to the entrance of Jinxing Avenue, he met a young man selling watermelons from a tricycle. He said the watermelons on the cart were exactly from the Sky City site. He also said that the local government had notified him that after July 1 this year, if construction starts and damages the watermelons, there will be no compensation, so he needed to sell the watermelons quickly now.
　　Broad Is Working on Fire Protection Design
　　During an interview in Huilong Village, a villager said that the Sky City plot used to be their farmland and was expropriated in 2012. They hope this world's tallest building can be completed as soon as possible to boost the village economy. However, he said, "Now everyone in the village knows that the reason Sky City has not started construction is that the procedures have not been completed. Now it is said that the fire protection design has not passed review."
　　She Haoyu, director of the Wangcheng District Waterfront New City Management Committee, where Sky City is located, told National Business Daily that the project has not started because the relevant procedures have not been completed. "First, it must comply with ordinary procedures and have a normal building permit. At the same time, as a super-high-rise building, a high-rise of more than 800 meters must first be reviewed by the National Super-High Limit Review Committee for structural safety before specific design can be carried out."
　　She Haoyu said that Sky City has now passed the review of the "National Super-High Limit Review Committee," and Broad is working on the fire protection design. As for which level of fire department needs to review the fire protection design, it depends on the specific situation.
　　Su Kan, chief of the Investment Liaison Section of the Wangcheng District Waterfront New City Management Committee, told the reporter that Sky City currently only has the land certificate and the construction land planning permit, and has not yet obtained other certificates.
　　She Haoyu stressed that before Sky City obtains the relevant procedures, the local government will absolutely not allow construction to start. However, if the ancillary buildings of Sky City obtain the procedures, they can be built first. "The ancillary buildings are relatively lower in height, and the construction application procedures can be approved within Wangcheng District."
　　The land for Sky City was acquired in two transactions in November 2012 and March 2013, more than a year ago. Article 2 of the Measures for the Disposal of Idle Land, revised and adopted by the Ministry of Land and Resources in June 2012, clearly states that idle land refers to state-owned construction land for which the holder of the state-owned construction land use right has not started development within one full year after the date for commencement of development agreed or stipulated in the contract for paid use of state-owned construction land use right or the allocation decision.
　　Does the construction land for Sky City count as idle land? On the morning of June 26, the reporter went to the Wangcheng District Land and Resources Bureau of Changsha. A deputy captain of the bureau's law enforcement and supervision brigade told the reporter that whether land is idle is not calculated according to the time of the listing transaction but according to the time agreed in the land transfer contract. The person also said that the land for Sky City is not idle land, and at least up to now, it has not been idle.
　　Responding to Doubts with "Positive Energy"
　　Just after Broad announced the construction of Sky City last year, the project attracted doubts from some scholars because it was "super high." Wei Chunyu, dean of the School of Architecture at Hunan University, who once participated in the Sky City demonstration meeting, believes that Sky City is a completely enclosed system. What if there is a fire? How to evacuate? "I think this is not a simple maintenance system, and the difficulty is great."
　　The person in charge of Sky City Investment Co., Ltd. told National Business Daily that the fire protection design of Sky City has been entrusted to the Tianjin Fire Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security. "We have passed the experiments and determined safety through review by highly respected national experts. It is not that I myself say it is safe, nor do I do the design myself. We have found professional companies and experts to confirm the experimental basis to prove that it is safe." The person also said that the steel (3076, -2.00, -0.06%) used in Sky City can withstand fire for 3 hours.
　　However, some experts believe that judging from the fact that the fire protection design of Sky City has still not obtained approval, its fire protection design likely does not meet fire department regulations, and the experiments passed cannot prove safety.
　　In response to these doubts, Broad Group President Zhang Yue once published an article titled "Positive Energy of Sky City" (hereinafter referred to as "Positive Energy") on the company's official website, responding to outside doubts from eight aspects. The article stated that since the Sky City plan was announced in 2010, Broad has cooperated with domestic and foreign experts to conduct hundreds of tests, and for wind tunnels alone it conducted four tests with three laboratories at home and abroad. To put it another way, even if Broad did not value safety, the highly respected experts of the "National Super-Limit Review Committee" and competent departments at all levels could not have been negligent in the slightest.
　　According to a person close to Broad, an engineer at BSB once revealed that Zhang Yue, in order to get Sky City started as soon as possible, urged him to produce a design plan, and said that Zhang Yue is a very aggressive person. The reporter was unable to verify this claim with Broad.
　　But the person also said that Zhang Yue attaches great importance to safety, both in engineering business and in employees' lives. The internal store of Broad Group does not sell cigarettes or cola, and all foods put on the shelves must undergo safety inspections.
　　Future Investment in the Project May Exceed 10 Billion Yuan
　　In addition, the reporter learned that the budget for Sky City has increased from the initial 4 billion yuan to 9 billion yuan, and based on current progress, future investment will exceed 10 billion yuan. A person in the real estate industry said that this money can only "assemble" the building and cannot even complete supporting facilities.
　　Zhang Yue previously revealed in an interview with a reporter from China Economic Weekly that Broad's operating revenue in 2012 was about 6 billion yuan, of which non-electric air conditioning accounted for more than 2 billion yuan. A company manager close to Zhang Yue further revealed that "since 1995, Broad, which has not borrowed for 18 consecutive years, has accumulated total assets of more than 10 billion yuan, including at least 4 billion yuan in bank deposits."
　　The fact that Broad specially established Sky City Investment Company shows that Broad will not use all its assets to build this building but will bring in investors.
　　She Haoyu, director of the Wangcheng District Binhai New City Management Committee, told National Business Daily that if Broad wants to build Sky City but the funds are not in place, the government will absolutely not allow it to start construction, in order to eliminate the hidden danger of unfinished buildings. He also revealed that Broad had discussed cooperation with real estate companies such as Vanke and Greenland.
　　In the above-mentioned article "Positive Energy," Zhang Yue said that Broad has never taken loans since 1995. A company with assets of more than 10 billion yuan that has not borrowed for 18 years is rare in the world. This does not mean that Sky City does not need loans, but it shows that Broad is a rational company. Over the years, Broad has been granted credit lines of billions of yuan by major banks every year, but it has never used a single cent.
　　Regarding the project approval procedures and construction funding sources for Sky City, the reporter called Zhu Linfang, spokesperson for Sky City. She said that Broad is not accepting interviews now, and the company will release news about Sky City in October, and reporters are welcome to come for interviews then.