The key to the market-oriented operation of urban renewal lies in the realization of asset value enhancement and sustainable cash flow through the holding and operation of spatial assets. In this process, the characteristics of the participation of financial institutions and the application of financial tools show obvious differences from those in the new land development during the urban spatial expansion period. Based on the financialization and life-cycle theories, this paper takes the “investment, financing, management, and exit” process of urban renewal spatial asset operation as the analysis framework to reveal the current financial practice characteristics of market entities’ participation in urban renewal. The investment stage is the process of capital intervening in asset targets. Compared with the traditional realestate development model, urban renewal pays more attention to the handling of asset compliance in the context of diversified investment targets, and has gradually formed a cooperation model that separates light and heavy assets of “project operation + property rights holding”, and attaches more importance to the longterm and complexity of investment calculation. The financing stage is the process of magnifying the capital leverage, and the methods mainly include two categories: debt and equity. For debt-based financing, the credit granting characteristics of commercial banks and policy banks for urban renewal projects are reflected in two aspects. Firstly, the characteristics of loan products are in line with the asset characteristics such as low returns and complex compliance presented by some urban renewal projects. Secondly, the creation of loan products often follows the major national strategic directions, reflecting the national macroorientation of tilting financial capital towards weak and key areas of economic and social development. For equity-based financing, the main entities participating in equity investment in urban renewal emerging in the current market mainly include private equity investment institutions, insurance institutions with equity investment business, trust institutions carrying out equity-based trust business, asset management companies (AMCs) involved in equity operation, etc. In recent years, many places have also started to set up government investment funds for urban renewal. The capital costs and investment preferences of various institutions vary. The management stage focuses on realizing the preservation and appreciation of urban renewal assets and increasing project profits. In urban renewal projects, market entities mainly achieve efficiency enhancement and cost reduction and improve project cash flow through principles such as “operationalization” of space design and “refinement” of operation and maintenance. The risks of urban renewal mainly come from space, economy, society. The implementing entities need to establish reasonable control measures to ensure asset safety and increase asset value. In order to achieve the “cost-revenue” balance of urban renewal through more channels, the new practice of market entities and financial institutions is to use urban renewal projects as “customer acquisition scenarios” to expand revenue paths. The exit stage is the way and the final goal for the investment entity to realize the value of the transformed assets, and thus realizing the capital logic loop of the entire project operation. It includes self-holding operation, asset transfer, and REITs listing. The applicable scenarios and characteristics of various exit methods are different. Self-holding operation is suitable for projects with long-term operation potential and stable cash flow that can be generated through continuous operation, such as the renovation of oldresidential areas and rental housing, and can match long-term or policy-based loans. Asset transfer is suitable for projects with significantly increased asset value after renovation, especially high-end properties such as commercial office buildings and commercial complexes, and can match institutional investors with high capital costs and short cycles. The listing of REITs and others is suitable for projects with stable cash flow and suitable for securitization operations, covering industrial parks, rental housing, etc. Immature projects can issue Pre-REITs. Taking the urban village reconstruction project of L Village in Beijing as an example, this paper studies and analyzes the “investment, financing, management, and exit” characteristics of financial institutions as the implementing entities in urban renewal, and depicts the micro-penetration process of spatial financialization in the renewal process through the diachronic analysis of the project. The theoretical contribution of this paper lies in placing the financialization of urban renewal in the institutional environment with Chinese characteristics and comparing it with the previous “land financialization” to reveal the changes in the orientation and mode of financial capital’s intervention in urban renewal.