As one of Bangkok's most gigantic real estate undertakings, the "Lumpini Condotown" project covers 32 rai and has 14 blocks of 8-floor buildings, which house 3,400 apartments.

With a solid reputation for delivering lower-middle-end housing on time, builder LPN Development has shown it has an uncanny ability to compete even in a tough market, by churning out large supplies of relatively cheap units.

The publicly traded firm is a favourite among investors as it usually announces favourable earnings quarterly. By finish projects on time, it is able to realise huge profits that come with transfers of units to new buyers and banks take charge of mortgage financing responsibilities.

Good results at LPN over the past few years have enabled the company to become a top player in the lower-middle-end market.

The firm can easily buy huge tracts of land in the outer suburbs to quickly erect no-frills units at prices below Bt1-million, where demand is strong.

It targets young customers, often first-time buyers. having rather  limited experience in home purchses, such buyers are quite likely to have much lower expectations.

Its Lumpini Condotown Bodindecha-Ramkhamhaeng project offers mostly shoe-box shaped units starting with the smallest, 25-square metre unit for Bt670,000.

All the units have a 2.4-metre ceiling height.

A 28-square-metre one-bedroom type goes for Bt758,000. The price will not include air conditioners or built-in furniture.

For a basic package costing Bt28,000, the buyer will receive a bed, cupboard and small mirror atop a working table.

All units will have a pantry set, however, but everything else will require extra funding.

To receive similar fancy touches such as those in its show units, buyers can pay Bt128,000 more for screens, built-in furniture, lighting and wallpaper.

The site in the Ramkhamhaeng-Lat Phrao area is not linked to a mass transit train system, which is not necessarily a bad thing if you hate being forced to watch noisy commercials from TV screens affixed on skytrains.

As with most LPN projects, this project is largely selling just studios and one bedroom types.

By doing so, LPN need not provide massive parking spaces, which are mandatory if it contains larger units under the law.

For this project, residents will be charged a Bt200-a month parking fee, that comes to Bt2,400 a year.

The fees should not be a big problem for more affluent residents.

This measure may also check people who own two cars by making them pay more while sparing people who don't have cars.

Also visitor parking will probably be charged, thus discouraging free loaders from permanently occupying common property.

The estate has one swimming pool for its 3,400 units. The pool measures 10 by 12 metres, which should be fine as long as only a few people show up at any one time. The cost for using the pool is about Bt30 a day, another nifty way of discouraging crowds. The estate stretches 1 kilometre from Ramkhamhaeng Soi 434/1 to Lat Phrao Soi 112. For joggers and runners, this strip will prove a handy track to train on.

For commuters the length of the estate can also help train them to do distance walking. It is also a great way to shed excess weight and build respiratory organs.

LPN's architecture is not known for its aesthetics or artistry, but quite the opposite, rather spartan with less colours than those on Lego blocks.

Yet the market has learned to love these no-frills, compact looking box-like homes. From Onnuj to Viphavadee Rangsit, Lat Phrao and Rama 3 Road, the firm has given shapes that sharply contrast with suburban landscapes.

The on site sales office at Ramkhamhaeng has two show units while another sales office on the Lat Phrao side contains a slightly more upscale mock-up apartment.

Itthi C Tan

The Nation