Celebrities test their mettle in real estate.

By Somluck Srimalee
The Nation
Published on September 11, 2008

High demand attracts personalities to the lucrative residentialhousing sector.

Celebrities test their mettle in real estate.

Strong demand in residential project that drive a number of Thai celebrities entry to this market.

A number of Thai celebrities are expanding their investment in the property market, paying heed to the high return on invest¬ment and utilising their undeveloped land, a survey conducted this week by The Nation revealed.

Most of them have strong interest in developing city condominiums and villas at beachresort locations, such as Hua Hin, Pattaya, and Phuket.

The first group in this fray is Dwell Development, a joint venture between Thavanan Tanesdechsundhara - son of Ampapan Tanesdechsundhara, who was the wife of General Sunthorn Kongsompong - and Piroon Shinawatra, son of Payap Shinawatra, the younger brother of ousted prime minister Thaksin Sinawatra.

Dwell has been in the property sector since May last year and has a registered capital of Bt120million.

Thavanan, who is also Dwell's managing director, said the compa¬ny plans to set aside an investment budget of Bt250million to buy 45 plots across Bangkok and upcountry locations for project development after successfully selling off D65 Condo, a project worth Bt660 million, at Sukhumvit Soi 65 this year.

"We entered the property market because we saw potential in it, especially for condominium project from overseas investors," he said.

He said the company will next year buy land in the Thonglor and Ekamai areas of Bangkok and provincial tourism sites, such as upper Phuket and southern Phang Nga, to develop detachedhousing and condomini¬um projects, worth Bt500 million to Bt800 million a unit.

Supharat Group managing direc¬tor Sumeth Sukahanpatharam, who is the soninlaw of Chai Sophonpanich, the owner of Bangkok Insurance, has developed two residential projects in Bangkok and Hua Hin.

These include The Sense at Sukhumvit Soi 68 and PranALuxe at Hua Hin.

Thanapat Property Development managing director Dolpiwat Preedawipat, who is the son of Pipat Preedawipat who owns Thailand's leading steel business Lao Peng Nguan, has also been in the proper¬ty business since 2003.

"I decided to enter the property business because my father suggest¬ed that this sector holds potential and will generate high returns on invest¬ment. Our objective is to help people own quality housing," he said.

In his five years in the property business, Thanapat has succeeded in building residential project in Bangkok by developing its existing land as well as buying new land to develop citycondominium projects that have generated revenues between Bt1 billion and Bt2 billion a year.

Korn Narongdej, who is the son of Kasem and Khunying Porntip Narongdej, who together chair the KPN Group, is also the chief execu¬tive of KPN Lifestyle, the property arm of the group.

Korn said that real estate has become a key business for the KPN Group, which otherwise deals in vehicles, music and entertainment, services, and trading.

"The realestate business, KPN Lifestyle, contributes 20 per cent to the group's revenues and we expect that to increase to between 40 per cent and 50 per cent in the next four to five years," KPN Lifestyle chief executive said.

He said the property sector was a challenge for him because the prop¬erty market is becoming a buyers market and that translates into an opportunity for him to develop unique products for them.

Well into his fourth year in the property market, Korn said he is very proud of the Bt320million, 24unit The Cadogan, a luxury condominium project on Sukhumvit Soi 39, which was sold out in just two months after its launch.

This year, Korn launched his sec¬ond project, a Bt300million, 35unit condominium called Vincente, located on Sukhumvit Soi 49. The fully furnished condominium is based on the Art Deco style. The company started presale since February and 65 per cent of the space has already been sold. Prices range from Bt7 million to Bt12 million a unit.

Korn said that by the end of next year, he would launch a new Bt1billion residential project with six luxurious villas in Krabi. Prices will range from Bt120 million to more than Bt180 million a villa.

"I believe that I am suited for the property business because I focus on building dream homes for our cus¬tomers," he said.

As many Thai celebrities enter the sector, which already has immense competition from professional, local developers and foreign investors, their business prowess, not their celebrity status, will decide their success.

{literal}

{/literal}

Excavator plant to start in 2010
Bangkok Komatsu spent more than Bt1 billion on its second excavator-assembly plant at Bangpakong to serve....
Glow building 3 power plants
Glow Energy will proceed with three new power plant projects, despite the drop in quarterly net profit on the....

{literal} {/literal}

Celebrities test their mettle in real estate.

High demand attracts personalities to the lucrative residentialhousing sector.

OTHER BUSINESS

Excavator plant to start in 2010

Glow building 3 power plants

Top Stories