Shanghai residents could no longer wait for June when Disney Resort opens its door. But it is not just children who are saving money for the entrance fee, rides and souvenirs.
Businessmen are scrambling to find rental spaces near the upcoming tourist attraction, according to a real estate agent. Every day, Lu Jianxin gets no less than 50 phone calls inquiring about unoccupied retail property near Shanghai Disney Resort.
Prices of properties and rental spaces near the resort have jumped more than 100 percent in the last 12 months and supply is limited, Lu tells callers. Reckoned from 2011, average price of commercial properties within a five-kilometer radius of the resort, including dining establishments and retail outlets, have zoomed more than 300 percent, according to Centaline Property Agency, reported China Daily.
A property with a price of 20,000 yuan per square meter five years ago is now worth 60,000 yuan per square meter. But that is just on the average because prices of some properties had ballooned to 72,000 yuan per square meter. The spiraling property prices is felt most especially in areas such as Lujiazui, Huaihai Road and Nanjing Road, considered premier locations.
Meanwhile, even prices of residential properties in the area also jumped to 40,000 yuan from 20,000 yuan per square meter in 2011.
The steady rise in property prices is not expected to slow down. However, it is expected to grow at a steadier rate when the resort opens by mid-year. But investors are willing to bite the high property prices because of the anticipated 10 million visitors on the first year which would likely steadily rise to 30 million annually in the coming years.
Shanghai children, on the other hand, are expecting they would need at least 2,000 yuan to enjoy a day in the happiest place on earth. It is broken down into 500 yuan for entrance fee, another 500 yuan for souvenirs and 1,000 yuan more to eat and accommodation.
The resort, according to LA Times, would have a traditional Magic Kingdom-style theme park. But its attractions would combine the standard Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, plus recent Disney and Pixar film characters more familiar to Chinese kids now exposed to Hollywood movies.