Taipei 101 land price highest in capital city

Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) The land price of Taipei 101, was the highest in the capital city for the sixth consecutive year, the Department of Land Administration of Taipei City Government said Friday.

The land price of the iconic building rose 1.55 percent from last year to about NT$1.77 million (US$57,282) per square meter or NT$5.84 million per ping (one ping equals 3.3 square meters), data compiled by the department showed.

Pan Yi-ju (潘依茹), a sector chief in the department, said the increase in the land price reflected the booming business in Xinyi District, where the building is located.

Pan said Xinyi District has attracted property developers who have introduced more commercial property to tap growing business in the area, boosting the value of large commercial property, like Taipei 101.

Shin Kong Life Tower, located across from Taipei Main Station in Zhongzheng District, ranked No. 2 in land price for commercial property in Taipei with its price up 1.1 percent from last year to NT$1.74 million per square meter or NT$5.76 million per ping, the department said.

According to the department, the land price of Shin Kong Life Tower, owned by Shin Kong Financial Holding Co., was the most expensive from 2000-2013, before Taipei 101 took the title.

However, Pan said there are signs that the land prices of Taipei 101 and Shin Kong Life Tower are getting closer, adding that a development project in the area where Shin Kong Life Tower is located is expected to boost the land price of the skyscraper in the future.

In terms of residential buildings, Van Der Bauwede, a luxury resident complex located on Jen-Ai Road in Daan District had a land price of NT$1.27 million per square meter or NT$4.21 million per ping, up 1.1 percent from last year, the data showed.

Li Te-chuan (李得全), director of the department, said land prices in the city's Songshan, Zhongzheng and Wanhua districts have risen quickest among Taipei's 12 administrative districts, while the sharpest decline in land prices have been in Wenshan, Neihu and Beitou districts.

Li said the department is scheduled to publish its latest assessment of land prices in the city for 2019 on Jan. 1.