China buys up property in America's hottest housing market
In the peaceful, tree-lined streets of Nashua, New Hampshire , where American flags flutter on porches and neighbors still wave from driveways, a storm is brewing. This charming town has recently earned the title of the hottest housing market in the US - a status fueled by soaring home prices and an influx of buyers priced out of nearby Boston. In the Manchester-Nashua metro area, the average home price has climbed to $599,900, driven by tight supply and strong demand.
But while homeowners celebrate rising values, another development is sparking deep concern. In January, Zhong Shanshan, a billionaire tied to China ’s Communist Party (CCP), paid $67 million for a 23-acre factory site in Nashua - more than four times its value. The land was sold to the US arm of his bottled water giant Nongfu Spring. What alarmed locals wasn’t just the price, it was the location.
The site sits next to Pennichuck Water Works, the city-controlled utility that supplies drinking water to the region. It’s also zoned for drinks production - a neighboring factory houses the maker of Budweiser - raising fears the company may tap into the local water supply. 'Water is one of our most vital resources,' said former state representative Randy Whitehead. 'To have a business, backed by the CCP, accessing water in our backyard is alarming.' 'City officials and Pennichuck need to come clean and provide some answers about this deal.'
Real estate investment firm Stag Industrial Holdings said in February they completed the sale to an undisclosed buyer. Area residents didn't find out about the sale until it made local news in July.
The building, which spans 337,000 square feet, has a defense contractor located across the street, a Federal Aviation Administration control center nearby, and counts Nashua and Manchester airports among its neighbors, too. State and local officials are concerned about the China ties, the country's Communist regime, and its tension with the US.
Shanshan quietly purchased the building, which is served by the Pennichuck water system allowing the company to use local water. The water plant is run by the City of Nashua. The secrecy surrounding the Nashua plant buyer sparked alarm among locals. Governor Kelly Ayotte told the New Hampshire Journal she would be keeping a close eye on the deal to ensure Shanshan doesn't purchase Pennichuck itself.
'It's critical that we safeguard New Hampshire from foreign adversaries like China. We need to ensure we aren't allowing any national security threat to take root in our state,' Ayotte said. Nashua isn’t a place that usually makes national headlines. It's only real brush with celebrity came in 1984, when pop singer and This Is Us star Mandy Moore was born here before her family relocated to Florida. Pennichuck's chief executive officer John Boisvert told the Daily Mail there are no plans to sell the company to Shanshan, and that they provide water just as electric and gas companies provide necessary services.
He says Pennichuck is a publicly run company that was appointed by local government officials to provide the town's water. He added that any big business that comes to town for a factory meets with Pennichuck to assure they can get their water supply needs met. Boisvert said Shanshan may have picked the area because Pennichuck already supplies the nearby Anheuser-Busch brewery. 'We can supply 30 million gallons a day,' he said. 'They would be a normal customer just like anybody else.'
State Senator Kevin Avard called the transaction concerning because it happened so fast. 'I find it disconcerting that the Mayor and other city officials have allowed this project to move so quickly without addressing these very real concerns,' he said. 'They need to come forward and address the questions and concerns from the public on this deal, everything from the sale price and real value of this property, as well as their intentions with our water supply. This needs to be a public conversation.'
Senator Regina Birdsell has proposed legislation to stop Chinese companies from owning land that sits near sensitive military sites in the state. 'Whether it's flying spy balloons across our country or scooping up critical plots of US real estate, China has stepped up its efforts to spy on our country,' she said. 'Other hostile nations, such as Russia, Iran, Syria and North Korea, could try the same surveillance tactics unless we do something to stop them.
'Totalitarian nations do not see any difference between one of their citizens' companies and the government itself.' Lily Tang Williams, who fled communism in China and is running for congress in New Hampshire as a republican, took to Instagram to demand an investigation into the sale. 'I urge City of Nashua, the sole owner of Pennichuck not to sell 2 million gallons of water per day to this Chinese company!' she wrote.
Still, Nashua Mayor James Donchess insists the town was not involved with the sale. 'The City of Nashua is neither involved in nor informed of the sales and acquisitions of any private properties in the city, and it has no input on the purchase prices of any private properties,' he said. Donchess claims the town only became aware of the sale when Nongfu Spring submitted a construction permit application. But Boisvert, Pennichuck's CEO, said while it's a 'touchy point' for some people, they don't need to worry. 'We're not selling anything to anybody,' he said.
