After being perceived as an entertainment district for decades, the Ratchadaphisek area is being transformed into a major new business district with at least seven new commercial properties totalling 800,000 square metres scheduled to be completed in 2013.
The new properties will include the Central Rama IX department store complex which will also house hotel rooms and office space across the road from Fortune Town, according to the Business Research Division of the SET-listed developer Pruksa Real Estate Plc (PS).
Other developments in the pipeline include the new headquarters of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET); a new AIA office building; The 9th Grand Tower Rama IX and the G Land Building.
Prasert Taedullayasatit, PS’s chief business officer, said the Ratchadaphisek area during the past three years has also showed the third-highest growth in condominiums, behind the Silom and Phahon Yothin areas.
The highest-growth market in the Ratchadaphisek area has been the middle-to upper-end segment with units priced from 3-7 million baht. The value of new supply in the segment increased by 115% from 3.9 billion baht to 8.37 billion from 2009-10.
In the first half of 2011, the value of new condominiums in Ratchadaphisek area was 2.2 billion baht.
Based on its market research data, PS last year acquired a plot of around two rai on Ratchadaphisek Road at 400,000 baht per square wah, opposite the soon-to-be-developed new AIA tower situated between the Cultural Centre and Rama IX MRT stations. It is developing a new condominium there called Ivy Ampio.
The company has sold 50% of the units at Ivy Ampio since the launch in May and it expects all units to be sold out by the end of the year. It will have 289 fully furnished units sized from 30 to 114 sq m and priced starting from 110,000 baht per sq m.
The project’s environmental impact assessment has been approved so construction will start by the end of the year and is scheduled top take two years.
In the Silom area, new condominium supply was worth 12.81 billion baht in 2010, up by 53% from 2009, according to PS research. In the Phahon Yothin area, new developments were worth 11.93 billion baht, up 38% from 2009.
Meanwhile, new supply in the Sukhumvit-Asok area dropped 2% from 2 billion baht to 1.94 billion in 2010.
PS shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 20.60 baht, up 40 satang, in trade worth 137.1 billion baht.
Source: Bangkok Post
