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Taipei 101 confident of staying competitive

Currently the world's tallest building, Taipei 101 is facing challenges from competing constructions such as the Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

Taipei 101, the world's tallest skyscraper at 508m high, expects to continue attracting tourists from home and abroad despite the challenges posed by new constructions aiming to be the new record holder.

"There will always be taller buildings that will break the world record. Becoming the city and the nation's landmark is much more important," said Frank Wang (王彥麒), communications manager of Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓公司), operator of Taipei 101, during a telephone interview yesterday.

His comments came in the wake of a report on Tuesday by Emirates Today, a newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates, claiming that the Burj Dubai would become the world's tallest tower today at 512.1m.

The "record-breaking" announcement was made during a briefing before Dubai Civil Defense officials on the safety measures being adopted at the construction site, the report said.

However, official recognition by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat will only be made after construction is completed -- scheduled late next year or in 2009.

A group of racing camels passes in front of a skyline with the Burj Dubai under construction in the middle in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, last October. PHOTO: AP

Burj Dubai's developers have been tight-lipped about the building's final height.

Built in 2004, Taipei 101 overtook Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers to become the world's highest building. It has the world's biggest and heaviest tuned mass damper and the world's fastest elevator, moving at 1,010m per minute.

With 58,000 pings (191,400m2) of office space for lease, the building boasts an occupancy rate of about 75 percent, Wang said, adding that the company has adopted a more cautious approach when selecting tenants.

The ING Group is Taipei 101's largest occupant, taking six floors of space.

The skyscraper sees a daily traffic of more than 8,000 office workers. Its observatory, which affords a good view of the capital, has attracted more than 2.5 million tourists, or between 2,000 and 3,000 people a day.

The adjacent shopping mall has undergone several changes and now houses first-class designer brands, including Cartier, Coach, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Versace.

These fashion brands together posted revenue growth of more than 10 percent last year, Wang said.

To strengthen Taipei 101's image, Taipei Financial Center chairwoman Diana Chen (陳敏薰) announced last month that it was tapping into the high-end wedding market. To date, it has signed on more than 10 couples to its wedding services, with unit prices topping NT$2 million (US$61,000).

"Even when we are not the tallest tower in the world, our building's special design, services and location cannot be replaced," Wang said.

"As long as Taiwan's tourism environment remains appealing, we don't think the tourist traffic into our building will be affected," he said.
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