Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) said its board had agreed to acquire three office buildings at Neihu Technology Park (內湖科技園區) for NT$11.51 billion (US$356.7 million), the life insurer said in a press statement released late on Tuesday night.
The life insurer’s latest property purchase will reinforce its status as the largest landlord in the Taipei science park, with 13 office buildings in its investment portfolio.
“If fully rented, these 13 buildings, valued at more than NT$30 billion, could bring in nearly NT$1.2 billion in annual rental income,” Shin Kong Life, a unit of Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), said in the statement.
Shin Kong Life, the nation’s third-largest life insurer, said it had agreed to take up Asia Plaza’s (亞太經貿廣場) 11,936 ping (39,400m²) Building A for NT$3.9 billion, 10,456 ping Building B for NT$3.6 billion and 12,395 ping Building C for NT$4 billion.
That averages a floor price of between NT$322,711 and NT$326,743 per ping, it said.
The life insurer added that it had started talks with two potential buyers that are interested in acquiring the property it recently bought from Hung Poo Real Estate Development Co (宏普建設). Shin Kong Life signed a contract with Hung Poo in the middle of August to buy its 11-floor building for NT$1.05 billion, it said in a stock exchange filing.
Shin Kong said it remained bullish on Taipei City’s commercial property market and that it would aggressively evaluate potential property opportunities in Neihu (內湖) and Nangang (南港) districts, as well as the upscale Xinyi District (信義), to generate fixed income and boost investment gains.
Billy Yen (顏炳立), general manager at the international real estate consultancy DTZ Debenham Tie Leung (戴德梁行), previously forecast a 10 percent to 15 percent price hike for commercial properties in the Neihu park, while other realtors also expect a mild pick-up in monthly rentals for the district’s office space.
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