Homes in DNA-shaped Taipei tower go on sale

Taipei, Feb. 19 (CNA) Residential properties in the Tao Zhu Yin Yuan (陶朱隱園), a distinctive double helical tower in Taipei's Xinyi District, officially went on sale Wednesday.

The announcement was made by the tower's builder, BES Engineering Corp., which declined to make public pricing information to protect the privacy of potential buyers.

Real estate sources, however, estimate that properties on the lower floors will sell for at least NT$3 million (US$91,557) per ping (3.305 square meters), with higher prices on the building's upper floors.

Given that each unit is around 300 ping, properties in the tower will likely start at around NT$900 million, or US$27.46 million.

Designed by Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut, the Tao Zhu Yin Yuan is inspired by the double-helical structure of DNA, with each floor from levels 2 to 21 rotating 4.5 degrees clockwise, or a total of 90 degrees.

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, according to the building's website.

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 10-meter waterfall and a 25-meter swimming pool in the basement, the website notes.

Chen Ping-chen (陳炳辰), a spokesperson for My Housing magazine, told CNA that 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 currently the One Park Taipei, the twin skyscrapers on the east end of Da'an Park, which previously sold for as high as NT$2.99 million per ping, Chen said.

The Tao Zhu Yin Yuan's home prices nevertheless represent a "correction" from recent 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, Chen said.

Chen Ting-chung (陳定中), a senior manager at Taiwan Realty Estate Co., said that although construction on the property was completed eight years ago, the limited supply of new luxury homes in Xinyi District -- a central business district where Taipei 101 is located -- meant that there would likely still be solid demand from buyers.