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Taipei 101 sets lower limit for rent

Companies interested in moving their offices into the world's tallest building, the Taipei 101 Tower, will pay over NT$2,000 per ping in rent, and risk paying more if they do not act quickly, according to the skyscraper's owner, Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓公司).

"[Tenants] will need to pay a rent of no less than ... NT$2,000 [per ping]," the company's president, Lin Hong-ming (林鴻明), said at a media briefing yesterday.

Lin made the remarks while dismissing speculation that the company had dropped rents to around NT$1,600 per ping from the set premium rate of NT$3,200 when it signed a 15-year lease with the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp last month.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange, which is one of the Taipei Financial Center's shareholders, will pay more than NT$2,000 per ping, and will be the only company to enjoy such low rates as the Taipei Financial Center plans to charge more in the future, Lin said.

"Early birds can enjoy preferential treatment, as rates will gradually increase by 10 percent to 15 percent this year," he said.

The Taipei Financial Center said it will rent out over 30 percent of the building's 54,000 ping office space and expects to see the occupancy rate reach between 60 percent and 70 percent by the year's end, and 95 percent before the end of next year.

The skyscraper's lobby will be opened to the public on April 1 and its first tenant, Bayer Taiwan, will move into the 53rd and 54th floors in the middle of next month, Taipei Financial Center said.

Lin shied away from commenting on lower-than-expected interest in moving into the building expressed by other shareholders, such as the China Development Industrial Bank (開發工銀), Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中信銀行), Cathay Life Insurance (國泰人壽) and Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), adding that they would focus on recruiting foreign companies in the initial stage.

Taipei 101 plans to start leasing office space above the 60th floor in the second half of this year.

The company expects rents to be 20 percent higher than the average rate of NT$2,306 per ping for the Xinyi District in the fourth quarter of last year, the company's assistant vice president Cathy Yang (楊文琪) said.

Looking ahead, "Taipei's office building market looks promising," said Calvin Wang (王治平), managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle International Property Consultants, which is also Taipei 101's leading leasing agent.

Rents are expected to rise by 10 percent on average this year, driven by higher occupancy rates, Wang said.

The industry veteran predicted that the vacancy rate will slide to 7.5 percent in the first quarter from 7.9 percent last quarter, with rents to rise to between NT$2,300 and NT$2,400 per ping from NT$2,172.
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