Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽), a subsidiary of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), yesterday signed a lease agreement with My Humble House Group (寒舍國際酒店) to turn part of a land development project into hotel floors.
The project is a shopping and hotel complex sitting on a 1,928 ping (6,373m2) plot of land in Xinyi District, for which the insurer won a 50-year surface rights lease from the government in October 2008 for a NT$3.68 billion (US$119.41 million) premium.
HOTEL PLANS
The hotel lease is expected to generate a 4 percent return on the insurer’s real estate investment, Fubon Financial president Victor Kung (龔天行) said by telephone.
The complex will feature 22 floors above ground and five stories underground, with 14,000 ping in total floor space, the financial service provider said.
The hotel will occupy the fourth floor of the building and above, with Momo Department Store (Momo百貨), an affiliate of the Fubon group, occupying the rest of the space, the company said.
My Humble House Group, which runs the Sheraton Taipei Hotel (台北喜來登) and Le Meridian Taipei (台北寒舍艾美酒店), plans to create a hotel under its own brand after the construction is completed in 2013, Fubon Financial said.
INCREASED PRESENCE
The new hotel will include 250 rooms, conference space, restaurants and fitness facilities, in line with My Humble House Group’s intention to strengthen its presence in the hospitality industry, Fubon Financial said.
However, it refused to comment on earlier reports of a partnership with Formosa International Hotels Corp (晶華國際酒店), the nation’s biggest listed hotel operator.
Richard Tsai (蔡明興), chairman of Fubon Life Insurance, expressed confidence the deal with My Humble House would create a win-win situation for both parties — all members of the Tsai clan, one of Taiwan’s richest families.
REAL ESTATE GOALS
Richard Tsai said the land development project was in line with the insurer’s plan to increase real estate investment and Fubon Life will keep hunting for real estate investment projects to better utilize idle funds.
The insurer reportedly lost the bid in August for a 10-story building housing Chinfon Commercial Bank’s (慶豐銀行) former Taipei headquarters to Taiwan Insurance Co (台灣人壽).
Fubon Financial shares fell 1.2 percent to NT$37.05 at the close of trade yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX’s 0.68 percent drop, Taiwan Stock Exchange figures showed.
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