The Beijing government by November will select the architect for the high-profile core area within the central business district (CBD) that could be worth billions of dollars to developers, according to Beijing officials and property developers.
Five architects have been shortlisted from a list of 11 and the final one will be selected in the next two months for the core area, the last significant undeveloped tract of land in the CBD.
After the architects have been chosen, property developers will submit bids for the site. Unlike other areas of the CBD, which are being developed by a variety of property companies, the core area will have just one or two to ensure architectural consistency.
'With other projects in the CBD, we have given them full rein to create their individual styles,' said Li Guohong, the director of the Planning Department of Beijing CBD Administration Commission.
'Now we want to see a consonance of architecture in the core area, which means we will probably ask one or two major developers to achieve one style.'
The core area is 20 per cent of the four sqkm CBD. The government views it as the CBD's 'heart'.
