TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Taichung on Sunday (June 30) for what will be Taiwan’s largest commercial shopping complex, located near the High Speed Rail station in Taichung’s Wuri District. 

The planned “D-ONE” shopping center and commercial zone represents a current total investment of over NT$26 billion (US$8 billion), and will cover an area of around 15 hectares, reported CNA. The zone will also include a five-star hotel, a movie theater, a convention center, and business offices, with an expected date to begin operations in the last quarter of 2026.

Plans for the complex were inked in 2021 on land owned by the Taiwan Railways Corporation. The total floor area of the D-ONE shopping complex will be approximately 1.5 times larger than Taichung’s Mistukoshi Department store, and 4.8 times larger than the Taipei 101 shopping mall, per UDN. 

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) thanked the many international investors who chose to support the project in Taichung. She also pledged to work closely with developers, the Taiwan Railways Corporation, and the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, to ensure that transportation and infrastructure issues can be handled smoothly throughout the construction period. 

The mayor said that she hopes that an elevated passage way from the second floor of the High Speed Rail station to the shopping complex will be built for easy access between the D-ONE mall and the railway system. 

According to Harashima Eiichi (原島榮一), the CEO of the project’s largest investor, the D-ONE International Development company, the commercial complex will be a major boost to the local economy. It is expected to create around 18,000 new jobs over time, and earn approximately NT$35 billion (US$10.7 billion) per year once it is completed, per CNA.