Taipei's simmering property market is attracting foreign attention, with US real-estate tycoon Donald Trump and Beijing Vantone Industrial Co (北京萬通實業) looking to enter the market.
Trump has contracted with a local real-estate service provider to look for land in Taipei for his luxury home projects, the realtor confirmed yesterday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the realtor said that "Trump expressed interest a few months ago and is hoping to locate a viable parcel of land as soon as possible."
The most likely spot for his top-tier housing project, which may be worth more than US$1 billion, is Taipei City's Xinyi District (
As "Mr Trump would like to stay low-key before everything matures," the realtor declined to elaborate.
The planned luxury homes will target multinational executives and top business leaders, it said.
Also in Xinyi District, the world's tallest completed skyscraper, Taipei 101, has caught the eye of Chinese real-estate tycoon Feng Lun (馮侖), chairman of Beijing Vantone.
Feng told Taipei 101 that he was interested in renting 4,000 pings of office space on the skyscraper's 80th floor and higher, media reported yesterday.
Michael Liu (劉家豪), assistant vice president of Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓公司), the skyscraper's operator, yesterday confirmed that Feng had expressed interested during a visit last year.
"But no deals have been reached and it's still too early to tell whether there will be a deal," Liu said.
Liu said the skyscraper's offices had reached an occupancy rate of 75 percent, leaving 550,000 ping of vacant office space for rent between the 70th and 84th floors.
Approximately 2,000 ping (6,600m3) of office space above the 80th floor is available for rent, with a minimum rental price of NT$4,000 per ping, he said, inviting Beijing Vantone to become the skyscraper's third Chinese tenant after the entry of Lenovo China (聯想) and Tiens Group Co (天獅集團).
The deal is pending approval from the government since no Chinese companies are allowed to open branches in Taiwan, Liu said.
Lenovo and Tiens Group have entered the market as international companies, clearing the regulation.
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