By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said he does not support a tentative plan to turn part of the former Talee Department Store Wufu branch (大統百貨五福店) site into a parking lot, saying its future affects the surrounding shopping districts.
Speaking at the City Council on October 1, Chen promised to meet personally with the landowner before leaving office to discuss alternatives, according to China Times’ property news report.
“I don’t think a parking lot should be built there,” Chen said.
The department store at the intersection of Jhongshan Road (中山路) and Wufu Road (五福路) opened in 1975 and closed at the end of February this year when its land lease expired. Demolition began in March, and the building has since been cleared.
Talee said it was tentatively considering parking use for approximately 300 ping of land it owns, equivalent to about 990 square meters. That parcel is smaller than the roughly 1,500-ping former store site discussed by the mayor.
Councilor Kuo Chien-meng (郭建盟) urged the city to take an active role in determining the site’s future. He warned that using central commercial land only for parking could further weaken the neighboring Shinkuchan (新堀江) and Yuzhu (玉竹) shopping districts.
Chen said the area held personal significance for him as a graduate of nearby Sinsing Elementary School (新興國小). However, he also acknowledged that reviving a shopping district involves more than deciding what to build on one vacant site.
Online shopping and rapidly changing consumer tastes require commercial districts to adapt, he said. He pointed to the introduction of anime-related attractions in the underground shopping area at Kaohsiung Main Station as an example of efforts to draw visitors.
Chen said the landowner’s willingness would be central to any agreement. He pledged further discussions but announced no specific redevelopment proposal or timetable.
