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 (
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
RSS