The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday signed a contract with Cathay Life Insurance and its partners to jointly develop TRA’s property in Nangang District (南港), which was previously used as a marshalling yard for trains.
Cathay Life is to develop the 5.44-hectare lot with Mercuries Life Insurance and Gloria Hotel Group, with the investment topping NT$31.52 billion (US$1 billion), making it the nation’s largest urban renewal project in terms of development area and scale of investment.
It is also the first urban renewal project by the agency to draw private investment.
TRA Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said that the Nangang Railway Station would become an important transportation hub after the high-speed rail station in Nangang becomes operational.
He said the agency also plans to move its headquarters and catering service department to Nangang in 2020.
As for the Taipei Railway Station building, it will be leased to private corporations, Chou said.
Multinational companies might be interested in setting up operations there because of its central location, he said, adding that leasing out such a valuable property could generate annual revenues of NT$120 million.
Lin Chao-ting (林昭廷), an executive with Cathay Life Insurance, said the project is to be carried out in two phases, with 2.34 hectares first being developed, and the rest in the second phase.
Two separate companies will oversee their development, he said.
Gloria Hotel Group chief executive officer John Chen (陳炯福) said the group plans to build a metropolitan hotel to serve tourists and business travelers in the region.
The project is one of the TRA’s plans to increase its revenue and reduce its losses.
Another one is the development of the former Taipei Railway Workshop, which was recently designated as a national historic site and must be completely preserved.
“The vision of building a railway museum remains unchanged,” Chou said.
“We are still negotiating with the Ministry of Culture and hope to reach a win-win situation, in which development and preservation can coexist,” he said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese