Bullard House Case

"The Bullard Houses" is a case in which Downtown, a corporation formed by James Bullard's descendants, is seeking for a buyer for the site that has been saved by Downtown from destruction. The reason behind this potential deal is because Downtown is in a great cash shortage. There are two parties current interested in this site, including Absentia, the client I as a senior partner in Jones & Jones represent for. The resulting negotiation between the representative of Downtown and me covers a couple of issues, such as primarily the price of the Bullard Houses and the use of it, etc.

Yan Ma, the representative of Downtown, started off by raising Downtown's concerns about the future use of the Bullard Houses. Instead of mentioning about their current financial situation, Yan repeatedly questioned me about the purpose for which Absentia was going to acquire the site. From my prospective, I didn't have the authority to reveal to anyone the real purpose, which is to building a high-rise hotel in the garden area. Hence, I made much effort in an attempt to get around this question. Nevertheless, she mentioned that the only way she could continue this negotiation was to know

the intended use of the site because her clients bought the property in the hope that their ancestors' heritage can be protected from being destroyed. With no rout of retreat, I chose to reveal that Milton Hotel Group wishes to build a hotel but to keep the exterior appearance as it was at the moment. Yan surprisingly seemed not opposed with Milton's projection. Frankly speaking, I did not quite understand why she agreed to move on to the next issue after hearing a high-rise hotel will be built and the interior of the Bullard House will be redesigned as the lobby of the hotel. With this big issue being solved, we soon reached a final deal of a total price of $18.5 million in which $13 million would be paid up front and the remaining $5.5 million would be paid by installment within one and a half years. On top of that, the option for Downtown to buy at least one unit in the Bullard Houses was offered and thus we sealed the deal.

As I review the whole negotiation process now, I admit I was in a very passive position at the beginning. By passive, I mean I could not react to Yan's questions for the planned use of the site in a way I should have. She pointed out a few

problems that her clients do not want to see after the Bullard Houses site was handed over. For instance, she mentioned that James Bullard's descendents felt like the taste of the building, regardless of whether the exterior or the interior, being remained as it was at the moment, and in addition, they were opposed to high-rise non-residential use of the site. I, afterwards, interpreted all these questions as her additional chips in hand for the later discussion about the price since she could raise the price for that I admitted my client couldn't meet one or two of their requests. As I mentioned earlier, I had no choice but to disclose the intended use of the site in order to keep the negotiation moving on. After knowing my client's plan, her previous standpoint against high-rise non-residential use of the site diminished somehow. I was aware of the change in her reaction instantly, which inspired me to think she might have betrayed her client's interest of keeping the building style unchanged and not allowing non-residential use of the site as well such that she could continue the negotiation and hopefully seal the deal.

On the issue of the price, I made the first

offer