By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — Even as demolition crews erase one of Kaohsiung’s most nostalgic commercial landmarks, the land beneath it is already making headlines for another reason: price.
The site of the former Datong Department Store (大統百貨) near Wufu Road (五福路) and Central Park (中央公園) has seen a small parcel of land sell for an eye-catching NT$74.7 million, according to Taiwan’s real estate transaction registry.
The plot measures just 19.7 ping (about 65 square meters), but the transaction works out to roughly NT$3.8 million per ping, making it one of the highest unit land prices ever recorded in Kaohsiung.
Datong Department Store first opened in 1975 and was once billed as the largest department store in Southeast Asia. The building later became associated with a major fire in 1995, an event still remembered by many longtime residents. Although the complex was later renovated and reopened under names such as Datong 262 and the Datong Wufu branch, the property is now being cleared after the land lease expired.
According to estimates cited by property analysts, the entire site across from Central Park covers roughly 1,043 ping. If valued at similar levels, the land could theoretically be worth close to NT$3.9 billion.
Real estate industry representatives note that the transaction appears to involve related parties or co-owners, but the headline unit price has nevertheless sparked discussion in the local property market about how high land values in the central Wufu shopping district (五福商圈) may climb in future developments.
