Residential properties in the Tao Zhu Yin Yuan (陶朱隱園), a distinctive double-helix tower in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), officially went on sale yesterday.
The announcement was made by the tower’s builder, BES Engineering Corp (中華工程), which declined to publicize pricing information to protect the privacy of potential buyers.
However, real-estate sources said that properties on the lower floors would sell for at least NT$3 million (US$91,609) per ping (3.3m2), with higher prices on the building’s upper floors.
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Taipei Times
Given that each unit is about 300 ping, properties in the tower would likely start at about NT$900 million.
Designed by Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut, the Tao Zhu Yin Yuan is inspired by the double-helix structure of DNA, with each floor from levels 2 to 21 rotating 4.5° clockwise, or a total of 90°.
As a result, each of the tower’s 40 units has a large terrace with an unimpeded view of the sky and allows for the planting of seven large trees, the building’s Web site says.
Each unit also features a 50-ping “sky garden” where residents can plant a garden, while the building’s public areas include a “forest” on the first floor with a 10m waterfall and a 25m swimming pool in the basement, the site says.
Chen Ping-chen (陳炳辰), spokesman for the Chinese-language My Housing Monthly (住展雜誌), said the tower’s NT$3 million per ping price tag likely represented “the ceiling” for luxury properties in Taipei.
According to the government’s actual price registration system, the highest-priced residential complex in Taipei is One Park Taipei (元利信義聯勤), twin skyscrapers on the east end of Daan Forest Park (大安森林公園), which previously sold for as high as NT$2.99 million per ping, Chen said.
Nevertheless, the Tao Zhu Yin Yuan’s home prices represent a “correction” from the past few years — when they were reportedly expected to go for as high as NT$6 million per ping — possibly due to the central bank’s efforts to clamp down on housing speculation, he said.
Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) senior manager Chen Ting-chung (陳定中) said that although construction on the property was completed eight years ago, the limited supply of new luxury homes in Xinyi District — a prime business district where Taipei 101 is located — meant that there would likely still be solid demand from buyers.
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