Continental Development Corp (大陸建設) yesterday announced the completion of the luxury Treasure Garden (寶格) residential complex in Taichung, which is to become the most expensive housing in central Taiwan.
The building has 39 floors above ground and six basement floors on a plot of 814 ping (2,691m2) near the Taichung Opera House and the city hall in Situn District (西屯).
It offers 66 upscale apartment units that range from 147 to 187 ping and are priced between NT$90 million and NT$150 million (US$3.1 million and US$5.16 million) each, or NT$750,000 to NT$950,000 per ping, officials said.
The price tags exclude parking spaces costing between NT$2.5 million and NT$3 million each, they said.
The developer has sold 70 percent of the complex, leaving only 17 units available, Continental chairman Christopher Chang (張良) said.
Most buyers work in the non-technology manufacturing sector in central Taiwan, Chang said.
“Location, brand and design top the list of concerns among home buyers,” he said.
The Taipei-based developer invited Italian architecture firm ACPV to design the building’s exterior and interior, Chang said.
ACPV is responsible for designing the Bulgari Hotels in London, Milan and Bali.
Architects Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel designed Treasure Garden’s apartments and public space. The renowned pair are to also design the interior of an upcoming five-star Park Hyatt hotel in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義).
The luxury home market — which has been under pressure from the government’s measures to curb property fever — showed signs of recovery late last year amid a stable economy at home and abroad, major developers Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設), Shining Building Business Co (鄉林) and Highwealth Construction Corp (興富發) have said.
However, the central bank still maintains credit controls on luxury houses, capping mortgages on such homes at 60 percent of the property value, 10 percent lower than for other housing products.
Treasure Garden is to make earnings contributions to Continental Development from this quarter, officials said, declining to elaborate.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS