Building-height limit to be lifted for area south of Taoyuan Airport.

Taipei, Oct. 19, 2009 (CENS) -- The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has won the agreement of the Ministry of National Defense to scrap the military airport south of Taoyuan International Airport, which will result in the lifting of the construction-height limit in the neighborhood, greatly boosting its development potential, according to Mao Chi-kuo, minister of MOTC.

In an interview with the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN), sister publication of Taiwan Economic News (TEN), Mao points out that major beneficiary of the decision will be the special area surrounding the Taoyuan Chingpu station of the high-speed rail, spanning 490 hectares in space, 3.2 times that of Xinyi planned area in downtown Taipei. 70 hectares of the military airport will be reserved for military use, with the remainder to be switched for other public usage.

The removal of the construction-height restriction will greatly facilitate the plan for developing the area neighboring Chingpu station into a clustering of corporate headquarters or an international convention and exhibition center, taking advantage of its convenient transportation. Due to the height limit, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation was forced to build the station underground.

Due to the revision, the development plan for the area will be overhauled. The area boasts the largest space among the five major station areas of the high-speed rail.

Mao notes that the station area is part of the projected Taoyuan aviation city, or Aerotropolis, and will complement the core airport park of the project. The latter spans 2,000 hectares in space, including 1,204 hectares of the existing airport per se, an additional 550 hectares north of the airport for the projected third runway, 200 hectares on the east side for the projected freight park, and 45 hectares of the existing Farglory free trade harbor area.

Mao reveals the renovation project for the first terminal of Taoyuan airport will kick off next month and that for the third terminal will break ground around the upcoming Chinese lunar new year. The latter will serve mainly transit passengers.