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Property administration to freeze auction of land

The National Property Administration (NPA) said on Sunday it had filed a provisional disposition in court on Friday barring Central Motion Pictures Corp (中影, CMP) from auctioning off a piece of prime real estate in the midst of an ongoing lawsuit that prohibited the corporation from selling the property while the case was pending.

The property owned by CMP, one of the many state-owned corporations created during the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) five decades of rule, was listed as part of the KMT’s stolen assets.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has long sought to force the KMT to return its illegal assets back to the people. The previous DPP administration last year filed a breach of trust lawsuit against the KMT and demanded the party account for all of its assets.

The KMT sold off many of its businesses for cash, including CMP, which is now privately owned.

It was reported that CMP planned to auction off its New World Building near Ximending MRT Station at a floor price of NT$2 billion (US$61.5 million) next Wednesday.

The 40-year old building houses an Eslite Bookstore, a movie complex with two 300-seat theaters, dozens of clothing retailers and offices.

One report quoted an unnamed NPA official saying that although the KMT was back in power, the NPA was still obligated to continue the investigation it started during the DPP era.

The suit would remain valid unless the parties involved were willing to settle or withdraw the suit, the official said.

In other words, even if the auction went successfully next week, the property would still remain frozen until the court handed down its decision, the report said.

Last December, the NPA filed a civil lawsuit to the Taipei District Court demanding CMP hand over the Ximending property.

Auction organizer DTZ Debenham Tie Leung International Property Advisers said that if sold at the floor price, the property could generate an annual income of NT$120 million (US$3.6 million) in rent.
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