Amaranta focusing on Bangkok’s next CBD

“We want to differentiate our new properties from those of other players by developing a hotel and a residence in the same area. Our first dual project is in the Ratchada-Huai Khwang area,” Sopon Asawanuchit, managing director of the local developer, said yesterday.
The company launched the Amaranta Residence yesterday next to the Amaranta Hotel, which was opened about nine months ago after an investment of Bt500 million.
The new Bt800-million residence, which offers hotel-type services, aims to serve the high-end market in the new CBD covering Rama IX and Ratchadaphisek roads.
“The company plans to launch two dual projects per year. The next project is also likely to be in the Ratchada-Huai Khwang area, with an expected Bt1-billion investment for a 200-unit site,” he said.
The newly launched project comprises 159 units, 117 of which cover 30-41 square metres, with 42 larger units each occupying 55-77sqm.
Prices start at Bt3.7 million, or Bt126,000 per square metre, and construction is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of next year, Sopon said.
Before launching this project at Amaranta, Sopon founded a real-estate and solar-energy management firm after resigning his position at Siam Commercial Bank.
He also entered a venture with Okas Property to develop a condominium in the Bang Na area of Bangkok, as well as establishing a financial and investment advisory company.
Phanom Kanjanathiemthao, managing director of real-estate consultancy Knight Frank Chartered (Thailand), said Ratchada-Huai Khwang and Rama IX would soon become a new CBD in the capital.
However, there are limited plots of land available for the development of new projects in the area, causing land prices to continue to increase by 5-7 per cent per year, he said.

Land costly
Meanwhile, condominium prices in the Ratchadaphisek area have increased by an average of 5 per cent annually, from Bt98,000 per square metre in 2011 to Bt127,000 this year, he said, adding that some projects are now priced up to Bt150,000 per square metre. Phanom pointed out that only three new condominiums had opened in the area last year, with a total of 2,280 units, and only two projects – with 592 units combined – had been launched this year, while demand continued to increase.
Moreover, residential demand in the high-end segment will rise even more when the tallest building in Bangkok – Super Tower – and another office building – G Land Tower – open.
“Demand for condominiums in the Ratchada-Lat Phrao area is still high. Project sales rates today are as high as 86 per cent, with cumulative sales for 31,862 out of 36,803 units, with just 4,861 units remaining on the market.
“Ratchadaphisek is a fringe area of Bangkok where there is high demand from both locals and foreigners, such as buyers from [mainland] China, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong,” Phanom said.