Sansiri to launch eight condo projects this year

LISTED PROPERTY firm Sansiri will launch eight condominium projects worth Bt22 billion this year, of which 80 per cent will be in the medium- and high-end segments and the rest in the affordable segment, said Uthai Uthaisangsuk, Sansiri senior executive vice president for business development and project development (high-rise).
This year the company targets presales of its condominiums at Bt21 billion, while revenue from its condo business is expected to reach Bt13 billion.
One of its highlighted condominium projects this year is “KHUN by YOO inspired by Starck” worth Bt4 billion, which is situated in the central Bangkok location of Thong Lor. The project is its first collaboration with YOO Studio, which was co-founded by world-famous designer Philippe Starck and property entrepreneur John Hitchcox. 
Sansiri has pre-sold about 65 per cent of the KHUN by YOO project, which is expected to be completely constructed in July 2020.
Hitchcox has said that the philosophy of YOO Studio is to mix architecture with design in order to improve the buyer’s quality of life and create a home, not just a house. 
He added that a home was a place that could deliver rest, love, education and security for the people who live there. 
He said KHUN by YOO was the first YOO-branded condominium in Thailand. Its design is inspired by local contexts; for example, it boasts a night garden, a dramatic lobby and a vertical garden, because before designing the project, YOO examined the area and got an idea of who was going to live there.
Uthai said Sansiri would expand its foreign customer base for its condominium projects to include Japanese and Dubai buyers as well as growing its existing customer base in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. 
This year its condominium business targets sales to foreign customers at Bt7.5 billion, up by almost 40 per cent from Bt5.4 billion last year.
In a recent interview with The Nation, Sansiri president Srettha Thavisin said his firm planned to open two new sales offices in China – in Shenzhen and Guangzhou – and expand into Japan and the Middle East, especially Dubai, to drive the value of purchases from foreign buyers to Bt7.5 billion this year.
Sansiri has also kept pace with the digital age. Early this month the firm and Siam Commercial Bank jointly launched Siri Venture, a property-technology firm specialising in research, development, and start-ups.
The JV initially aims to invest between Bt100 million and Bt500 million in research and development and property-related start-ups. The JV has registered capital of Bt100 million. Sansiri owns 90 per cent, while SCB owns the rest.