Interviewee: Hsieh Wen, Public Relations Manager, TAIPEI 101
Interviewer: Wen-Han Wang, Si-Ning Hsieh, and Jun-Cheng Lee
12pm , Oct. 21, 2005

We represented the Fantastic 9 to visit Mr. Hsieh Wen at the rental office in the TAIPEI 101 Office annex. Our main objective was to understand the floor structure and the progress in recruiting business tenants.

The architectural model of TAIPEI 101 shown to us by Mr. Hsieh reminds us the miniature buildings in the Window on China Theme Park . Finally we are not seeing TAIPEI 101 from far away distance or from below. We are standing next to the model of TAIPEI 101 and the surrounding areas. We can clearly mark the observation deck on the 91 st floor, and also try to find our homes on the model landscape.

The occupancy rate of TAIPEI 101 is at 50%, and with two more months to go, hopefully the goal of 70% can be reached. This is a very difficult task, so Sister Diana Chen and Uncle Lin Hong Ming need to go overseas to solicit business.

Uncle Hsieh said that all of TAIPEI 101 building is for rent. If the occupancy rate is at 99% then it is a great success.

Our research topic is enterprise and organization. Recent news about the high speed railway or the nuclear power plant were all about increasing the budgets, and we hope that TAIPEI 101 can solicit tenants successfully so there will be no need for the budget increase.

Uncle Hsieh mentioned that the Taipei Municipal Government had a great vision in developing Xin Yi District into a “ Manhattan ” of Taipei . There are many bank headquarters, department stores, and the Taiwan Stock Exchange will soon move into TAIPEI 101. In addition to the cinematic complex and the 5-star hotel, a corridor system connects all major buildings to the department stores, TAIPEI 101, and the Taipei World Trade Center , allowing pedestrians wind- and rain-free passages. The air-corridors will be a major feature of Xin Yi District.

In addition, the exterior lighting of TAIPEI 101 is very beautiful. Uncle Hsieh told us that the same lighting designer was hired for the newly open Shing Kong Mitsukoshi A4 Department Store, and we did found that both buildings use the same color lighting each night.