{"id":27171,"date":"2023-07-02T13:52:38","date_gmt":"2023-07-02T20:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=27171"},"modified":"2023-07-02T13:52:39","modified_gmt":"2023-07-02T20:52:39","slug":"in-buying-a-building-taiwan-bets-big-on-struggling-downtown-san-francisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/07\/02\/in-buying-a-building-taiwan-bets-big-on-struggling-downtown-san-francisco\/","title":{"rendered":"In Buying a Building, Taiwan Bets Big on Struggling Downtown San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by\u00a0Han Li<\/a>Published\u00a0Jun. 28, 2023 \u2022 (SFStandard.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office spent nearly $53 million for the newly constructed building in SoMa at 345 Fourth St. | Isaac Ceja\/The Standard<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As headlines about San Francisco\u2019s beleaguered Downtown trend nationwide, one foreign government has eyed an opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims as its territory, has spent an unprecedented amount of money to acquire a building in SoMa<\/a> that will be the new home of its local diplomatic facility, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The office building, located at 345 Fourth St., is a brand-new, seven-story site<\/a> with 56,000 square feet of space. The economic and cultural office currently rents two floors at 555 Montgomery St. in the Financial District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuying properties for overseas diplomatic facilities (\u99d0\u5916\u9928\u8655) has been a policy of Taiwan\u2019s government for over 20 years,\u201d Scott Lai, the director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, told The Standard in Mandarin. \u201cTo rent for a long term is not cost-effective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to a workplace for staffers, the new office building will serve multiple functions, from processing visas to hosting large social events. Taiwan\u2019s current cultural and economic center in Chinatown<\/a> will be relocated to the new building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A rendering show the event space design concept of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office’s new building in San Francisco. | Courtesy photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lai said his team is currently in the midst of a design process, with renovation expected to start in October. The grand opening is scheduled for the end of 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Record-Breaking Investment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, Taiwan\u2019s government passed an unprecedented budget of $2.28 billion in New Taiwan Dollars (or $73.5 million in U.S. dollars) to purchase and renovate a new San Francisco office in the next three years. That sum represented the largest amount allocated toward a diplomatic property purchase in the government\u2019s history. In 2004, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office\u2019s New York outpost<\/a> cost approximately NTD $1.7 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After touring 15 properties, Lai said the agency decided to buy the SoMa property project earlier this year. The price tag was about $53 million. Equivalent buildings in Denver and Boston were purchased for considerably less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Scott Lai, the director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco, speaks with reporters. | Maggy Zhang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe got lucky,\u201d Lai said. \u201cThere are many empty buildings Downtown now because of the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politics may play a role in the high-profile purchase as well. Taiwan\u2019s status has been a major sticking point in relations between Beijing and Washington, D.C. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island<\/a>, and earlier this year, Taiwan\u2019s President Tsai Ing-wen met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Southern California<\/a>, triggering strong protests from Beijing and eroding the superpowers\u2019 relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Taipei Economic and Cultural Office is planned for a newly constructed building at 345 Fourth St. in San Francisco’s SoMa District, pictured on June 9, 2023. | Isaac Ceja\/The Standard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lai says the building\u2019s acquisition demonstrates Taiwan\u2019s determination to improve its connections with the U.S., while China has been objecting to any formal interactions between the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaiwan is in a good relationship with the U.S. now,\u201d Lai said. \u201cBuying this building will have a positive impact on the relationship in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Han Li can be reached at han@sfstandard.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by\u00a0Han LiPublished\u00a0Jun. 28, 2023 \u2022 (SFStandard.com) The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office spent nearly $53 million for the newly constructed building in SoMa at 345 Fourth St. | Isaac Ceja\/The Standard As headlines about San Francisco\u2019s beleaguered Downtown trend nationwide, one foreign government has eyed an opportunity. Taiwan, the… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[357],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27172,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27171\/revisions\/27172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}