Formosa International Hotels Corp (FIHC, 晶華國際酒店集團), the nation’s largest listed hotel operator, yesterday entered into a partnership with a US real-estate developer to launch two mixed-use property projects, allowing it to return to the US market after an absence of more than 10 years.
The Taipei-based hotelier inked an agreement with Cottonwood Management to develop integrated complexes in Boston’s booming Seaport District and on New York City’s Fifth Avenue, FIHC chairman Steven Pan (潘思亮) said.
“We have intended to rejoin the US market and are happy to find the right partner in Cottonwood Management,” Pan told a news conference in Taipei.
FIHC, which owns hotel and restaurant brands such as Regent, Regent Galleria, Just Sleep, Silks Place and Silks Palace, plans to move further into the service apartment and retail businesses, Pan said.
Over the years, the biggest beneficiaries of FIHC’s presence in different parts of the world have been retail and restaurant businesses nearby, rather than FIHC hotels themselves, Pan said.
This trend prompted FIHC to shift its focus to mixed-use developments, giving the company more opportunities to boost and diversify earnings, Pan said.
Covering more than 1 million square feet (92,900m2), the Boston development is to consist of three buildings with 900,000ft2 of residential space, including Regent-branded residences and service apartments, along with 125,000ft2 of retail space, the hotelier said.
A central courtyard will serve as the focal point of the development.
Regent will also offer residents and hotel guests a fine-dining experience and a luxurious place for relaxation, the company said.
Cottonwood Management chairman and founder Alexander Shing said that Regent is a global brand synonymous with hospitality and known for its deep understanding of contemporary luxury with a global sensibility.
“I look forward to working with Pan and his team to bring forth the best of the Regent DNA to our properties,” Shing said.
Regent Boston residences and service apartments are expected to commence development in fall of this year, the two companies said.
Regent used to operate the hotel in Beverly Hills, California, that served as the main setting of the US movie Pretty Woman.
The hotel was later acquired by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”