A consortium of Chinese developers made up of China Resources Land Ltd., Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd. and China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Co. Ltd. has swooped in to pick up a land plot in Beijing's Dongcheng district at a price of 3.84 billion yuan, according to an Aug. 1 Netease report.

The site is the first at Dongcheng district zoned for residential development since 2012, which local authorities have stipulated must yield housing units that cost no more than 9.4 million yuan, or a maximum of 89,000 yuan per square meter.

According to another report by South China Morning Post, the consortium will have to pay an additional 3.39 billion yuan as a "compensation fee," which would pull up the purchase price to 7.23 billion yuan, or 98,000 yuan per square meter, placing the eventual purchase price above the 93,521-yuan-per-square-meter price limit set by the local government.

The Aug. 1 report also noted that the site can provide gross floor space spanning 73,598 square meters, on which residential and commercial assets have to be developed separately, instead of together.

As of Aug. 1, US$1 was equivalent to 6.72 Chinese yuan.