The Taipei City Government yesterday said that it has selected five plots of land near Taipei Railway Station and Nangang Railway Station with high commercial value to offset a price gap if a proposed land swap between the municipal government and the central government were to take place for the city’s East Gateway Initiative.
The municipal government has proposed 26 development projects on the former site of the Nangang Bottle Cap Factory and on several plots of land near Nangang Railway Station.
However, the land is owned by the National Property Administration, Taipei Department of Finance Commissioner Chen Chih-ming (陳志銘) said at an information meeting with corporate leaders.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) last year proposed swapping the city-owned land where the legislature is situated with the Nangang site, prompting criticism that the city had proposed trading valuable property for worthless property.
To equalize the land swap values, the city government has selected five plots, each within 500m of railway stations — two near Nangang Transit Station where a build-operate-transfer project has been planned and two near Taipei Railway Station and the Nangang Bottle Cap Factory site.
The price gap between the legislature site, valued at NT$3.75 billion (US$121.1 million), and the factory site, valued at NT$3.27 billion, would be eliminated, Chen said.
He said that even though many people think property in Nangang District (南港) has little value, he believes that in eight to 10 years, Nangang could be as prosperous as Xinyi District (信義) because of the initiative.
Development projects in Nangang include a national biotechnology park to be created on the technological strength of Academia Sinica, innovation and exhibition spaces, as well as offices and business hotels integrated with the planned transit station.
Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce honorary chairman Theodore Huang (黃茂雄) lauded the city’s plans for Nangang, but added that officials should ensure that the plans work so that the district will not be filled with unused buildings.
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