Property developer and manager Aquarius Estate plans to spend up to Bt500 million to build a new condominium project in a tourist destination in the final quarter of the year, following the success of its first project, Casavela, on Koh Samui.

CEO Yongyutt Chaiprompra-sith said 70 per cent of the Bt500-million Casavela project had been sold and that units would be ready to be handed over to customers by November. When the first project is completed, Aquarius will launch a new project that will generate income next year.

The company recorded total revenues of Bt75 million last year: half from project-management fees and the rest from the Koh Samui project.

This year, Aquarius expects total revenues of Bt350 million: 80 per cent from the Casavela project, which will be transferred to home-buyers between this November and the first quarter of next year; and 20 per cent will come from property-management fees.

Aquarius Estate currently manages three property projects, including The Clover Thonglor, which is worth Bt2 billion, and two new condo projects worth up to Bt3 billion that will be launched this year by Preuksa Real Estate. Its management business covers both product development and sales management.

Yongyutt said Aquarius' second project, which it will fund itself, will be a condominium worth up to Bt500 million. It will be located in a tourist destination like Koh Samui, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Phuket or Chiang Mai and cater to the upper end of the market.

"We're focusing on tourist destinations because this project will be a second or third home for our customers, who have the purchasing power to buy a luxury home for up to Bt10 million a unit," he said.

Aquarius will offer a special package involving what it calls a "hotel condominium". It is already offering this deal on Koh Samui at Casavela.

The company manages the units for its buyers, finds foreign tenants to occupy the units for six to 10 months a year and guarantees buyers a fixed-rate yield of 6 per cent for three years.

"Condominium projects at tourist destinations must offer special promotions to boost sales, especially luxury condominiums, because home-buyers - locals and foreigners alike - are delaying their decisions to buy at present," he said, adding that local buyers are delaying out of concern over the New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok and political uncertainty, while foreigners were also concerned about the proposed amendments to the Foreign Business Act.

However, when the situation stabilises, both will be buying again, said Yongyutt. 

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation