Urban renewal projects in Taipei and New Taipei City totaled NT$59.2 billion (US$1.88 billion) for the first five months of this year and could easily exceed NT$100 billion for the entire year on the back of government support, the Chinese-language Housing Monthly (住展雜誌) said on Thursday last week.
That would make this year the third consecutive year that renewal projects have been the main source of new construction, despite the time required to complete them, the magazine said.
The trend is most evident in Taipei, where renewal projects are being carried out in 10 of the 12 administrative districts, Housing Monthly research manager Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) said.
Sunty Development Co Ltd (昇陽建設) might launch an urban renewal project in the city’s Xinyi District (信義), which took the developer nearly 30 years to gain approval for, Ho said.
Sunty has another two urban renewal projects in New Taipei City’s Banciao (板橋) and Yonghe (永和) districts, making it the largest player in the urban renewal sector this year, Ho said.
Sanyuan Group (三圓建設) and Lung Ling Development Co’s (龍麟建設) project, “the Diamond Tower” near the Zhongxiao-Fuxing MRT Station, is about to hit the market after two decades, Ho said.
The developers aim to build two high-rise, mixed-use buildings on 1,545 ping (5,107m2) of land that is 37.36 percent owned by the Ministry of Finance.
Sen Yeh Construction Co (森業營造) has embarked on a project called “the City Garden” near Taipei City Hall after spending 19 years clearing legal obstacles and resolving issues with former occupants, Ho said.
Another renewal project in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) appears the most popular, with an 80 percent sales rate after its launch in late March, Ho said, adding that the project by Huaku Development Co (華固建設) could generate NT$6 billion in revenue when it is completed.
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