Hua Nan begins Wanhua project despite economy

• By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Hua Nan Asset Management Co (華南金資產管理) has begun breaking ground for an urban renewal project in Taipei, while some peers are slowing down construction amid soaring building material and labor costs.

The project, in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), has 13 floors above ground and three basement floors, and is scheduled to be completed in 2025, the asset management arm of state-run Hua Nan Financial Holding Co (華南金控) said on Wednesday.

Labor shortages and building material price hikes have compelled developers to postpone construction amid interest rate hikes and selective credit controls that deepen a cautious sentiment.

The Hua Nan project has sold 90 percent of its apartment units after being introduced on the presale market late last year, as urban renewal projects have not been affected by the central bank’s controls on local lenders, the company said.

The project is a collaboration between Hua Nan and the owners of the land, on which a 50-year-old complex previously stood.

The company said that it has other urban renewal projects in the works in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) and New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店), it said.

It is also working with owners of other old complexes to support the government’s effort to retire old and dangerous buildings, it said.

Hua Nan Assets in 2017 helped an aging factory in New Taipei City’s Tucheng Industrial Park (土城工業區) win renewal approval, and the project obtained its use permit in December last year, the company said.