Global Real Estate Firm Makes Foray Into Taiwan With New Office, Continues Asia Drive

Tom Burroughes

6 June 2013

Cushman & Wakefield, one of the world’s biggest property services firms, has opened its first office in Taipei as it expands into Taiwan.

This is the sixth new Asia-Pacific office that the firm has opened in the past 18 months, Sanjay Verma, chief executive at Cushman & Wakefield for the Asia-Pacific region said in a statement.

“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,” he said.

Randall Hall, executive managing director for Greater China said: "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 per cent over the next few years, the Taiwan economy will have a growing prominence in the region.”

The firm has appointed Jack Lin as the managing director of Taipei office. Previously, he was managing director of Taiwan Sotheby's International Realty where he set up the luxury residential brokerage business. Steven Chen has also been appointed as the director of agency. He has more than 16 years' experience in the real estate industry and was previously at Savills.

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, the firm said.