China’s “princelings” have not lagged behind in securing a share in Taiwan’s tourism boom with an eye toward Chinese tourists’ spending power, as Zeng Baobao (曾寶寶), former Chinese vice president Zeng Qinghong’s (曾慶紅) niece, has leased a building in Taipei on Nanjing E Road via the Taiwan Fantasia Development Co (台灣花樣年開發公司) she founded for the U Hotel Taipei.
Following Chinese and Hong Kong “end-to-end” investments in travel agencies, sightseeing buses, hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops, U Hotel Taipei is the first hotel fully funded by Chinese capital in Taiwan.
Fantasia Holdings Group (中國花樣年控股集團), a developer in China founded in 1996 by Zeng Baobao, has its main projects in Shenzhen and Chengdu in China, and was listed in Hong Kong in 2009.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Department of Commerce registration data show that Hong Kong’s Fantasia Holdings Group on March 28, 2011, applied to set up Taiwan Fantasia Development Co as a “Chinese investment,” with registered capital of NT$35 million (US$1.12 million) and Hong Kong Fantasia Holdings Group (香港花樣年投資控股集團) chief executive Pan Jun (潘軍) as its chairman.
Taiwan Fantasia has leased the Hecheng building on Nanjing E Road Sec 3 from Wanda Investment Corp Ltd (萬達投資公司), owned by Cathay Financial Holding Co’s (國泰金控) Tsai Cheng-da (蔡政達), since July last year.
The building has a total floor area of 1,220.97 ping (4,036.3m2), and rents for NT$35.4 million a year, according to information provided by the Ministry of the Interior.
Considering that Cathay Group’s Tsai family bought the building for NT$1.6 billion, the return on rental income — estimated with real rental income — is just 2.21 percent.
Michael Wang (王維宏), an account manager at Global Asset Management Co (全球資產), an asset management unit of Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), said the building is on a corner plot and has 12 stories of about 104.55 ping each.
Wanda Investment Co acquired the building from Seasons Hotel Royal in March 2013 for NT$1.6 billion, said Wang, who speculated that Tsai is aiming at a long-term end of city renewal integration, with rent income as its short-term gain.
U Hotel Taipei has 58 rooms and with four room types. According to a hotel room reservation Web site, rooms are priced from NT$8,470 per night to NT$11,550.
The price range implies that the hotel is targeting individual Chinese tourists, rather than Chinese visitors traveling in tour groups, observers said.
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