HONG KONG, June 5, 2013/PRNewswire/ -- Cushman & Wakefield, the world's largest privately owned real estate services firm, announced today that it has expanded its Greater China operations into Taiwan by opening its first office in Taipei.
Sanjay Verma, CEO for Asia Pacific commented: "Cushman & Wakefield has been aggressively expanding its business in Asia Pacific, and our Taipei office is our 6th new Asia Pacific office in the past 18 months. I strongly believe this new office will help us further increase the depth and breadth of our service offerings to our global clients and provides us with the opportunity to leverage Taiwan's expanding economy which is one of the important economies in Asia Pacific."
Randall Hall, Executive Managing Director for Greater China said: "We are delighted to extend our Greater China platform to Taiwan. Together with our teams in mainland China and Hong Kong, I believe we can offer outstanding services to our clients through our collaboration across Greater China. We have opened an office in Taiwan because our clients are there and they require integrated service offerings. This trend is set to continue. With a population of nearly 23 million and projected GDP growth rates of 3 - 5% over the next few years, the Taiwan economy will have a growing prominence in the region. The Cushman & Wakefield platform will give us the ability to reach out to investors and occupiers globally and introduce best in class services in Taiwan."
Cushman & Wakefield has appointed Jack Lin as the Managing Director of Taipei office. Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Jack was the Managing Director of Taiwan Sotheby's International Realty where he set up the luxury residential brokerage business. Together with Jack, Steven Chen was also appointed as the Director of Agency. Steven has more than 16 years' experience in the real estate industry and was previously at Savills.
Cushman & Wakefield is ready to become a driving force in the Taiwan property market, where property risk premiums are one of the lowest in Asia Pacific and is still experiencing a significant transformation, which gives the company room to develop a competitive advantage in another major city within the Greater China region. Taiwan has a stable political climate and welcomes the positive impacts of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). Investors have also been increasing their investments on major infrastructure projects (such as Taoyuan Aerotropolis) in recent years and anticipate the promotion of the free trade area establishment, while the administration has proposed policies to encourage Taiwanese businessmen in mainland China to bring more investment back to Taiwan.
According to Cushman & Wakefield's latest research report, Office MarketBeat, the Taipei office leasing market has picked up and been quite stable through the first quarter of 2013, after a year of economic challenges and soft growth last year.
The demand for office space has been improving in the beginning of 2013. New lease activity and absorption have been modest due to many occupiers opting to renew their space. But small to medium-sized multinational occupiers are keen to reduce costs and this has spurred some relocations, notably to some non-CBD locations. As a result, there has been moderate growth in Grade A rents in non-core areas.
Jack Lin, Managing Director of Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan said, "As several new projects will be completed in the second half of 2013, and some multinational occupiers are relocating to non-CBD locations, it could put some small pressure on vacancy in CBD, causing rents to drop slightly. However, the overall office leasing market in Taipei is stable."
Looking forward, the global economy will brighten with improved growth, therefore enhancing global trading in Taiwan, especially with mainland China.
About Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield is the world's largest privately-held commercial real estate services firm. The company advises and represents clients on all aspects of property occupancy and investment, and has established a preeminent position in the world's major markets, as evidenced by its frequent involvement in many of the most significant property leases, sales and assignments. Founded in 1917, it has 253 offices in 60 countries and more than 15,000 employees. It offers a complete range of services for all property types, fully-integrated on a global basis, including leasing, sales and acquisitions, debt and equity financing, investment banking, corporate services, property management, facilities management, project management, consulting and appraisal. The firm has more than $3.7 billion in assets under management. A recognized leader in local and global real estate research, the firm publishes its market information and studies online at www.cushmanwakefield.com/knowledge. In Greater China, Cushman & Wakefield maintains eight market-leading offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Taipei. More information is available at www.cushmanwakefield.com.
