Former Taipei Miramar hoteliers plan to invest at least NT$4 billion in an IMAX movie theater and shopping complex on a 8,000 ping (26,400m2) parcel of land in Dachih.
A 350-seat IMAX theater along with a five-floor shopping center are slated to begin operations in the middle of next year.
"The construction is scheduled to finish by the end of the year and we plan to open our doors for business next summer," said Elaine Yang (
The site on Dachih's Mingshui Road, previously designated for agriculture use, was recently rezoned for commercial use.
The Miramar Entertainment Park (美麗華購物中心) is fully funded by the Huang family, former owners of the recently demolished Taipei Hotel Miramar (美麗華飯店).
After closing the Miramar in 2000 and selling off the land, the Huang family shifted its commercial energies to the Miramar Golf Club (
Retail experience for the new department store is expected to come from Huang Chun-fa (
Win or lose the Huang family has sole control of the business.
The project will be rent free as the family owns the land.
The company has linked up with the US' Ambassador Theaters to set up the nation's first IMAX theater.
IMAX facilities feature a screen up to eight stories high and wrap-around 12,000-watt digital sound.
The five-floor shopping center is also designed to hold a nine-screen theater complex, food courts and a 500-tenant department store. On top of the complex will be an ferris wheel.
The company has also recruited Ota Katsumichi, a 32-year veteran of the industry and former general manager of Japan's Takashimaya Department Store, to head the complex.
Company officials hope the shopping center's location -- close to the Neihu Technology Park, where tens of thousands of white-collar workers are employed -- will represent significant consumption power, Ota said.
In addition, "our IMAX theater and ferris wheel are expected to be new landmarks in the northern part of Taipei, attracting not only local visitors but tourists," Yang said.
The Japanese ferris wheel will set Miramar back nearly NT$300 million, she added.
However, one real-estate industry official said the Miramar complex is unlikely to turn a profit until it is connected to the MRT system.
"Even if they plan to began operations next summer, I don't expect to see significant traffic to Miramar until 2007," said Chen Chien-feng (
The Neihu line of the MRT is scheduled to be running in 2007. One station on the line will be right in front of the Miramar Entertainment Park.
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