A LONG troubled set of buildings in Luohu has run into another bump, with the buildings’ third owner, Vanke Property, being ordered by the government to halt renovations on the buildings the company bought for 3 billion yuan (US$470 million) in May, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

    The two buildings near the Dongmen commercial area were ordered to stop renovations for two months because of a lack of legal permissions, the Daily said.

    According to real estate market insiders, the property company is at odds with the government over what the buildings should be renovated into. Vanke wants to renovate both buildings into serviced apartments, which are more profitable than office space. The government wants the buildings to become offices to attract new companies to Luohu.

    Vanke said that the project had been planned long before and they would not change the original plans.

    Construction of the buildings began in 1993 but was never completed by successive companies that couldn’t come up with the funds to finish the project.

    The renovation of the two buildings is now a main project for Vanke, one of China’s leading property companies. According to the Daily, Vanke owns equity of 65 percent in the buildings.

    The buildings were renamed from Zhengshun Plaza to No. 68 Vanke Shennan Blvd. with one of the building being turned into a hotel and serviced apartments and the other building being renovated into offices.

    A security guard at the construction site said questions should go to the Nanhu Subdistrict Office. The Nanhu Subdistrict Office said the project was halted because it had not been given permission to perform renovations for a second time.

    The two buildings, known as the “golden teeth buildings,” were set to be completed by Vanke. Vanke made a September announcement that the serviced apartments would go on sale by the end of the year.

    It was estimated the apartments could be sold for 60,000 yuan per square meter. (Zhang Qian)