Yuanta Life Insurance Co (元大人壽) yesterday won an auction for superfices rights to develop a plot in Taipei for NT$5.33 billion (US$174.74 million), nearly 30 percent more than the asking price, the National Property Bureau said.
The plot of 1,450 ping (4,793m2) is located near exit No. 2 of the Songjiang-Nanjing MRT Station with a floor cost of NT$4.1 billion, or NT$2.83 million per ping, the bureau said in an earlier public notice.
Yuanta Life, a major subsidiary of Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控), was the only participant in the auction, the bureau said.
The sum Yuanta Life offered translated into NT$3.68 million per ping, which would allow the insurer to generate rental income of up to 4 percent for 70 years after developing a commercial complex and securing tenants, property analysts said.
Property consultant Tony Chao (趙正義) of Jones Lang LaSalle Taiwan said that office rentals in the area are expected to average NT$2,700 per ping.
A severe shortage of upscale office space in the city would boost office occupancy and rentals for new office buildings in the coming years, Chao said, adding that he was a bit surprised no other contenders joined the bidding.
Several developers and investors voiced an interest in the superfices rights, but backed off likely out of fear that they did not have pockets as deep as that of life insurers, he said.
“They are likely seize on any opportunity the next time one arises,” Chao said.
The arrival of a new hotel by Japan’s JR Hotels Group would help increase the neighborhood’s popularity among business people, especially from Japan, market watchers said.
Apart from the bid offer, Yuanta Life has to pay an extra NT$230 million in one-time construction fees linked to the Songjiang-Nanjing MRT Station.
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