Faced with soaring prices of housing in urban China, what is a young college graduate to do? The Shanghai-based architecture firm DC Alliance provides one option in its Yinzhou Talent Apartments. The state-subsidized project in the Yinzhou district of Ningbo'a city of 5.7 million people three hours south of Shanghai'offers 1,000 rental units at a discount. It was developed by Yinzhou City Construction Investment Development Company, which is also responsible for the area's new central business district. The idea behind the apartment complex is to help university-educated people get started in Ningbo, a port city with four college campuses. The state-run developer can offer below-market rates because it is not a for-profit enterprise. Its 'return' is bringing talent to Yinzhou.
According to Yinzhou Construction's general vice manager, Hu Jun, tenants pay 60 percent of the market price for the first year, 80 percent the second, and nearly 100 percent the third; they are encouraged to leave after that. Seventy percent of the units are owned by Yinzhou Construction and distributed by lottery; the other 30 percent have been sold to local businesses that offer them to their employees.
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