A new entertainment-and-restaurant complex located in Taipei's chic Dinghao area is scheduled to have its soft opening on Christmas eve, an international real-estate firm told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Originally a two-story concrete house owned by Taiwanese textile mogul Douglas Hsu (徐旭東), the nearly completed building -- Bistro 98 -- boasts 11 floors of food and fun, according to Calvin Wang (王治平), managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Taiwan (仲量聯行).
With about 60 pings per floor, the building will feature boutiques on the first two levels as well as several restaurants and lounge bars from the third floor up. The complex is designed to appeal to Dinghao's trendy customers, who are typically between 20 and 40 years old, Wang said.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Wang declined to specify how much money was invested in the building, but he did say that, "It will be Taipei's first entertainment-restaurant complex that aims to meet the needs of young professionals in this city."
Jones Lang LaSalle Taiwan currently serves as the primary agent for the building's retail leasing. According to the firm, nearly 90 percent of the complex was rented out more than a year in advance -- before construction even started -- attesting to the desirability of the property's location.
The average rental price in the area is nearly NT$20,000 per ping, according to real-estate developer DTZ Debenham Tie Leung (戴德梁行).
"So far, we have already signed up a number of tenants -- such as Japanese curry-food restaurant Aubergine (茄子咖哩), Cantonese restaurant Three Coins (大三元), and Japanese yakiniku restaurant Bullfight (鬥牛士)," Wang said.
Ted Huang (黃一哲), spokesman for the yet-to-be-named lounge bar that will occupy both the 10th and 11th floors, said the central location of the new complex is important.
"It's an outstanding location that offers both food and entertainment under one roof," Huang said.
Dinghao is the mecca of Taipei's shoppers and entertainment-seekers and boasts three department stores that are within walking distance of hundreds of shops and restaurants.
Huang's lounge bar will be managed by many of the partners that brought Taipei The Opium Den (鴉片館), Room 18 night club and Japanese-cuisine restaurant Mulan (沐蘭).
Another tenant cited the endless stream of people and the convenience of transportation as the reason why it is moving to the new complex. "The Dinghao area will definitely have a lot of customer traffic due to the nearby Sogo Pacific Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨)," said Hsueh Shun-shu (薛順淑), spokeswoman for Bullfight, which has 38 outlets in Taiwan and six in China.
"Also, transportation won't be a concern because the building is close to the Chunghsiao-Fushing MRT station."
While there are currently few direct competitors in the field, one market watcher says brand-name tenants will be key to the success of the complex in the long run.
"Basically, this complex re-presents a new business model that brings together various established food and entertainment facilities," said Jacky Tsai (
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
RSS