Direct flights between Taipei’s Songshan Airport and Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport, which begin today, could increase demand for office space in the Dunbei (敦北) and Dunnan (敦南) commercial areas in the near future, Sinyi Realty Co (信義房屋) said in a statement.
Sinyi, the nation’s biggest real-estate brokerage, said inquiries about office space in the neighborhood of Songshan Airport have recently increased, mostly from local trade companies looking for 70-ping (231.5m²) to 80-ping offices.
Direct flights between the two cities will boost property investment by local companies in the short term, with domestic enterprises considering moving their headquarters to the Dunbei area, the realtor said.
“It will take about half a year before we will learn whether Chinese enterprises will start to set up their offices in areas surrounding Songshan Airport [following the new direct air links],” Ko Hung-an (柯宏安), deputy head of Sinyi’s Global Asset Management Inc, said in the statement.
“In particular, when the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway connects with Hongqiao Airport, the transportation network will be further expanded,” Ko said, adding that if Chinese tourists were to be allowed to travel independently to Taiwan in the future, the commercial area near Songshan Airport would benefit further.
Ko said business opportunities created by the new air links would not only boost demand for office space in the Dunbei and Dunnan areas, but would also push more high-tech companies to move to the Neihu Technology Park (內湖科技園區) near Songshan Airport.
In addition, the links will likely attract more China-based Taiwanese businesspeople to invest in luxury residences in Taipei and facilitate urban renewal projects for old communities near Songshan Airport, he said.
Meanwhile, shareholders on Friday approved the company’s proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$2.6 per share and a 20 percent stock dividend (or 200 shares per 1,000 held) on last year’s earnings of NT$1.48 billion (US$45.6 million).
Sinyi said in a separate statement that the company’s performance was only slightly affected by the global financial crisis last year, when it posted an earnings per share of NT$4.88 and its revenues rose 28.7 percent from a year earlier to reach a record high of NT$7.18 billion (US$221 million).
Chairman Chou Chun-chi (周俊吉) told shareholders the company would open a branch in Tokyo this month, marking the first Taiwanese real estate agency to branch into Japan.
Looking ahead, Chou said that in addition to plans to expand business in China, Sinyi would increase the number of its branches to more than 290 in Taiwan in the second quarter, and expects the number to exceed 300 by the end of the year.
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