COLLIERS FLASH INVESTMENT | RESEARCH | TAICHUNG CITY | 23 MAY 2019 STRONG BUSINESS CLIMATE DRIVES3 Eilleen Liang Director | Research | Taiwan OPPORTUNITIES IN TAICHUNG +886 2 8722 8601 [email protected] Summary & The 2nd largest city in Tech corridor creates Recommendations Taiwan by population economic output and An increase in population, manufacturing operations, jobs, employment and accessibility strengthen local As the capital for the smart machinery industry, the 1 developers’ confidence in Taichung City’s population is 2.8 million , second technology corridor originates from Dadu Mountain Taichung. The upgrading of office only to New Taipei City. Over the past five years, the and extends radiating outwards. Strong demand for space and expansion of annual increase is around 20,000 people, mostly manufacturing operations favors industrial plots and from domestic migration. Taichung’s aging index2 is manufacturing operations greatly factories in Xitun, Nantun, Wuri, Wuqi, Dadu and only 84.1, much more lower than Taiwan’s average Tanzi districts. The expansion of manufacturing increased the demand for office of 112.6, implying a young population and ample and industrial plots. Transaction increased demand for high-quality office space in workforce. Xitun district, with rents averaging NTD1,050 per volumes and government land ping (USD10 per sq m) per month. sales increased significantly over the last two years. Office investors should consider International retail Increasing real estate Taichung’s City-hall area as it is the city’s economic hub with the and hotel operators investment highest asset values, presenting The three key benefits of increasing population, the best opportunities. arrive industrial development and accessibility increased The train station redevelopment In addition to the continuous expansion of tech the real estate investment amount year by year, should provide opportunities for manufacturing, Taichung City has also attracted especially in the Xitun, Nantun and Wuri districts, retailers. international retailers and hotels, thanks to the further pushing the land transaction volume to promising industrial development, job growth, and NTD33.2 billion (USD1.0 billion) in 2018, the highest Manufacturing owner-occupiers the increase in household income and spending. in the past five years. In Q1 2019, the land looking for industrial land should Mitsui Outlet Park Taichung Port just opened at the transaction volume was NTD19.5 billion (USD613.2 consider technology parks on the end of 2018, and a Le Meridien Hotel is planned to million), ranking first in Taiwan. Fong Yi Group’s fringes of the city. come on stream in Q3 2019. purchase of a commercial plot in the Xitun district for NTD6.7 billion highlights this trend. Note: USD1 to NTD31.8 at the end of Q1 2019. 1Ministry of Interior Taiwan. 2The aging index refers to the ratio of elderly people (generally 65 and over) to young people (generally from birth to 14) per capita. COLLIERS FLASH INVESTMENT | RESEARCH | TAICHUNG CITY | 23 MAY 2019 Taichung: Taiwan’s 2nd largest city with well-planned Increasing demand for office and industrial plots infrastructure and increased domestic migration The main commercial office area in Taichung City is in the City-hall area, and along Taiwan Blvd. and Wenxin Rd. We found that companies tend to Located in central Taiwan, Taichung City has both sea and airports and is located their offices in the city center, while putting factories outside the readily accessible to both Taipei and Kaohsiung. This accessibility has city center. This trend raised demand for high quality offices, especially in propelled significant industrial development and population over the last five the City-hall area. The total office stock here was 202,000 ping (667,800 sq years. According to the Ministry of Interior Taiwan, the total population meters), with an average rent of NTD1,050 per ping (USD10 per sq meter) reached 2.8 million in 2018, ranking second in Taiwan, with an average per month. Rents of landmark Grade A buildings such as Fong Yi Urban Plaza, annual population increase of 20,000 people. We further found the Chingjia T3, BHW, CBD Time Square, and the new Lien Jade Landmark can population growth mainly came from domestic migration, with 11,260 reach NTD1,100 to 1,200 per ping (USD10.5 to 11.4 sq meter) per month. people arriving in 2018, showing a remarkable migration from outside From the CTSP 2018 annual report, we saw growing investments in Taichung, Taichung. such as factory expansions of TSMC and Micron Technology, Yaskawa Electric’s newly-planned R&D center, and Ally Logistic Property’s Industrial development, employment and construction of a 25,000 ping (82,640 sq meters) logistic park in Wuri. international retail and hotel operators increasing Higher consumption power and a huge population pushes up retail The industrial cluster originates from Dadu Mountain, including Central turnover; City-hall area dominates the market Taiwan Science Park (CTSP), Taichung Industrial Park and Precision Machinery Innovation Tech Park, extending to Taichung Port in the west and Houli, In Taichung, the disposable income was NTD338,000 (USD10,630) per Shengang, and Tanzi districts in the east. Manufacturing companies within person in 2017, and the consumption expense was NTD278,000 these districts area are mainly in the machine tool, integrated circuit, (USD8,740). The proportion of consumption reached 82.2% of precision machinery, photoelectric, motor vehicle, and aerospace sectors, disposable income, higher than Taiwan’s average of 79.7%, implying a further supporting employment. There were 196 registered companies in higher consumer purchasing intention. Taichung’s retail market attracts CTSP in 2018, which generated revenue of NTD724.9 (USD22.8) billion. people from Chunghwa and Nantou, with a total population of 45.8 Dajia Youth Industrial Park million. The newly-opened Showtime Plaza and Mitsui Outlet pushed the Chungkang Export Processing Zone Fengxing Houli Industrial Park number of retail facilities to 12 with a total supply of 240,000 ping Taichung Harbor Central Taiwan Science Park (Houli) (793,380 sq meters), generating turnover of NTD60 billion (USD1.9 Industrial Park Fengzhou Industrial Park (Phase I) billion) in 2018, with 55% of that coming from the City-hall area. Dadu Mountain City-hall Fengzhou Industrial Park (Phase II) Abundant beautiful natural scenery makes Taichung the 2nd most Central Taiwan Shengang Jixin Industrial Park Science Park popular tourism destination in Taiwan Taichung Export Processing Zone Taichung Industrial Park Tazi Juxing Industrial Park Taichung City has an abundant, diverse tourism market, including mountains Taichung Precision Dali Industrial Park Taichung Train Station and forests, historic sites and buildings, unique souvenirs, a thriving night Machinery Innovation Tech Taiping Industrial Park market culture, and a unique rainbow mural neighborhood, leading the Park (Phase I and II) visitor arrivals to 40 million per year in the last five years, ranking second in Taichung High Speed Rail Station, Wuri Dist. Wufeng Industrial Park Yonglong Industrial Park Taiwan. The hotel market used to be dominated by local brands; however, Taichung Software Park Renhua Industrial Park the large number of visitor arrivals have attracted international brands, including Holiday Inn, Fairfield, Le Meridian and InterContinental. Source: Bureau of Economic Development, Taichung City Government. 2 COLLIERS FLASH INVESTMENT | RESEARCH | TAICHUNG CITY | 23 MAY 2019 Consumption power in major cities in 2017 (NTD10,000) The transaction volume increased to NTD26.0 billion in Q1 2019 The investment market is active with the total transaction volume of Disposable income / person Consumption / person 43.7 44.1 NTD26.0 billion (USD817.6 million) in Q1 2019. The commercial property 37.4 transaction volume of was NTD6.5 billion (USD204.4 million). Driven by the 34.9 35.1 32.7 32.8 33.8 32.1 33.2 expansion of manufacturing and logistics operations, the transaction volume 29.8 29.3 of industrial assets was NTD5.4 billion (USD169.8 million), accounting for 27.4 26.0 27.8 25.9 26.4 23.0 83.4% of all commercial transactions. The three largest deals include LARGAN Precision (NTD2.8 billion, USD88.1 million); Micron Technology (NTD500 million, USD15.7 million); and PXMart (NTD1.1 billion, USD34.6 million). Supported by developers’ purchases, Taiwanese enterprises’ relocating their New Taipei City Taoyuan Hsinchu Hsinchu Taichung Tainan Kaohsiung Taiwan manufacturing operations from China, and government land sales, the land Taipei City City County City City City City Average transaction volume was NTD19.5 billion (USD613.2 million), the highest in Source: Ministry of Interior, data compiled by Colliers International Taiwan. We found strong demand for commercial and industrial plots, with a Three benefits: population, industry, and accessibility transaction value of NTD11.4 billion (USD358.5 million). The three largest deals include Fong Yi (NTD6.7 billion, USD210.7 million) and High Wealth strengthen real estate developers’ confidence (NTD1.5 billion, USD47.2 million) acquiring plots in Xitun District, while The land transaction volume increased from NTD16.9 billion (USD531.4 Family Mart purchased an industrial lot for logistics use in Dadu District million) in 2015 to NTD33.2 billion (USD1.0 billion) in 2018. Being the city’s (NTD1.4 billion, USD 44.0 million). commercial hub with proximity to the technology cluster, Xitun and Nantun districts were two major destinations which have potential for commercial City-hall and train station areas are hot spots, development and increased housing demand. Additionally, government land industrial plots are recommended sales in Wuri District during 2015 and 2016 attracted insurance companies The City-hall area in Xitun, which has the highest asset value within the city, and developers, also pushing up the transaction volumes here. is a neighborhood with clusters of Grade A offices, high-end condos and The five largest deals from 2015 to 2018 department stores. Land transactions and construction are active here, and office demand is the strongest within the city.