The sale of a soon-to-be-completed shopping mall in Taipei County owned by a financially strapped appliance maker has attracted the interest of five potential buyers, the deal＊s arranger said yesterday.
Taiwan Kolin (夆釱) is asking for NT$6 billion (US$182 million) for the mall in Sinjhuang City (蜪薧).
※There shouldn＊t be any problem closing the deal by the third quarter of this year,§ Gordon Kao (邴棬艟), vice president of Savills Taiwan, said by telephone.
The shopping mall, the first and only one in the highly populated city, is expected to generate a return of NT$450 million per year for the new buyer, he said, adding that cash-strapped Kolin put the property up for sale last week.
The mall, located near Fu Jen Catholic University and a mass rapid transit (MRT) station that will start operations in 2012. It has a lot size of about 11,200 ping (37,000m昌) and total floor area of 32,000 ping (105,600m昌), the realtor said.
Nearly 57 percent of the factory-turned shopping mall＊s floor space has been leased to retailers, including hypermarket RT-Mart (豇躽菕), Ambassador Theater (玿瑐蝭僗) and Toys※R§Us Inc.
Although construction of the NT$1.5 billion mall was halted late last year by the bankrupt owner, Kolin has promised to resume and complete the construction for the new buyer one year after the deal is sealed, Kao said.
According to Savills Taiwan, sales of local commercial properties reached NT$35.2 billion in the first six months of this year, a 60 percent growth year-on year. This shows continuing investor interest after the government eased restrictions on Chinese investment, it said.
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