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Published on March 21, 2008

Each of the properties will consist of 50-60 apartments, with rental rates ranging from Bt4,000 to Bt5,000 a month. They will be located in the Ratchadaphisek, Bang Kapi and Suthisarn areas. Deputy CEO Soammaphat Traisorat said the projects were aimed at serving low-budget tenants. The cost of building the blocks was not revealed.

"The group has many land plots and buildings in the capital that could accommodate apartment development," Soammaphat said.

The TCC Group is considering creating its own apartment-management chain, to run apartments with better standards and management systems than those of general operators, he said.

As well as apartments, the group has ventured into the medium-priced residential market. Its first real-estate-development firm, S&S Residential, has launched a new project in Sukhumvit Soi 101/1 targeted at low- to medium-income customers. It will have a market value of Bt1.8 billion.

The group has also announced a new low-cost-hotel development called the Imm Hotel, targeted at budget travellers.

Soammaphat said the Imm could be divided into three sub-brands. The first, called Imm Fusion, will apply to boutique hotels located in Bangkok and upcountry. The second, Imm Eco, will apply only to upcountry destinations. The third, Imm, will be mostly in Bangkok. The brands will offer rooms for about Bt1,000 a night.

The first two Imm properties are already operating in Chiang Mai and Bangkok's Sukhumvit Soi 51. Further budget hotels are being planned in Phuket, Krabi and Hua Hin.

Overall, TCC Land Development plans to spend up to Bt70 billion on property projects around the country, Soammaphat said.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation