Uni-President Group (
The two parties are scheduled to sign a contract by the end of this month so that the vacant building can be opened for business as soon as possible, they said.
The 30-floor President International Building, located near the Taipei City Hall MRT station, was constructed by Uni-President to house its first department store, for which it had formed a NT$1 billion (US$32 million) joint venture with Japan's Takashimaya Department Store in 2000. Each held a 50 percent stake.
The shopping center was originally scheduled to open last October. But the partnership was scotched early this year when Takashimaya dropped out due to disagreement on the rent and intensifying competition in the area.
Takashimaya's withdrawal led to a competition to replace it byBreeze Center (
The building's eight shareholders have paid a high price for the disagreement over development. The consortium is currently paying more than NT$20 million a month to maintain the site, Hsu Chung-jen (
The shareholders include President Chain, Prince Housing & Development Corp (太子建設), President International Development Corp (統一國際開發), Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託) and Universal Cement Corp (環球水泥).
When contacted by the Taipei Times yesterday, Eslite said it couldn't disclose too many details before the contract is signed. But it will build a bookstore bigger than its headquarters on Dunhua South Road, said Lee Yu-hwa (李玉華), Eslite's assistant public relations manager.
According to Prince Housing & Development, Eslite will occupy a two-level basement and six above-ground stories in the building, which will also have offices above the eighth floor. Uni-President has decided to act as a landlord and leave all retail business to Eslite.
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