Despite the bearish outlook on the property market, there remains a healthy transaction volume among opportunistic developers in Taipei City, where supply is scarce and property prices tend to be more resilient against fluctuations in the economy. Today, Continental Development Corporation (CDC) has announced the signing of a construction agreement with Howarm Construction Company, of the site at Minquan West Road, Taipei City.  Investment of this residential cum commercial building, which will boast 18 floors above ground and 5 floors underground is estimated to be between NT$1.9 – 2.1 billion.  The dates slated for the first submission for review and expected completion are first quarter of 2012 and third quarter of 2016 respectively.

Christopher Chang, Chairman of CDC likened this co-operation to the joining of two powerhouses.  In as short as two months, both parties have reached a consensus on the developmental potential of this project, and went into partnership with each party bringing to the table their individual strengths – Howarm will supply the land and CDC will be responsible for the construction.  The overall concept for this undertaking is urban renewal, CDC and Howarm would share the property right according to the investment ratio and adopt a common sales.

The development is near Minquan West Road MRT Station, which is a transfer station for the Tamsui Line and the Xinzhuang Line.  To access the site, passengers can take Exit 1 to the west side. It is convenient to travel to different parts of Taipei City by transferring to Bannan and Luzhou Lines or driving with Zhongshan Road and Chengde Road within close proximity.

Chairman Chang commented further that the location of Minquan West Road is perfect for the purpose of this development.  The total land area is approximately 552 ping (about 1,827.12 square meter), and the division of land will be largely for type 3 of business district (65%), while a smaller percentage will be demarcated for type 4 of residential area.  As there are ample facilities and amenities and traffic is convenient, the plan is to have a commercial cum residential building with 18 floors above ground and 5 floors underground.  The first and second floors will be for retail use while residential units of between medium to large floor areas will be built from the third floor upwards.

The estimated built-up area is about 7,000 ping (about 23,170 square meter), of which CDC is contractually entitled to 2,500 ping (about 8,275 square meter) and 35% of parking lots.  On 13 March 1996, this plot of land was selected for the second award for implementation of urban renewal.  CDC will submit the urban renewal proposal for review in the first quarter of 2012, followed by sales and marketing efforts for the property after obtaining the construction license in the second quarter of 2013 and finally, target for completion approximately in the third quarter of 2016.

In the last 2 years, CDC has launched a handful of developments in Taipei’s prime areas – ”Elegance Wealth” at Xinyi Road 4th section, ”ESSENCE” at Jilong Road Second Section and ”Modesty HOME” at Banqiao Special Zone; all of which achieved astounding success in relation to similar developments in the respective areas.  Encouraged by this, CDC will be replicating the same success formula in terms of planning, design and promotion to bring it to a greater height for the development at Minquan West Road.

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