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Chewathai builds on Surawong

source: Bangkok Post Monday Oct 20 2008

The property developer Chewathai Co, a joint venture between a Thai investor and a Singaporean contractor, plans a boutique condominium worth 400 million baht on Surawong Road.

Executive director Boon Choon Kiat said the new project, which is aimed at Singaporean buyers, would be located on a 240-square-wah plot acquired from the automotive service equipment and forklift truck importer United Motor Works (Siam), a subsidiary of Hup Soon Global Corp Ltd of Singapore.

The project will target expatriates and investors with about 60 units sized from 40 square metres and priced at 100,000 baht per sq m. The company says yields of at least 8-9% would be generated by renting out the smallest units at 50,000 baht a month.

"Residential demand is strong in the Silom area, where a lot of expatriates work but very few residential units are offered," said Mr Boon.

The company expects the foreign quota of 49% of the total project to be filled by Singaporean investors.

Since launching the 1.2-billion-baht, 329-unit Chewathai Ratchaprarop last month, Mr Boon said the company had sold 55% condo units, 10% of which were bought by Singaporeans.

Established in March 2008 with registered capital of 100 million baht, Chewathai is a joint venture between the Panichewa family and the Singaporean contractor Trans Equatorial Engineering Pte or TEE Group. TEE entered Thailand eight years ago, starting with facility development and management for the National Housing Authority (NHA) before constructing a total of 2,000 housing units for the NHA.

Currently, it is building single houses in the Waikiki project developed by Ananda Development. For three years it has also managed the facilities for the King Power Group's Wareepirom project, a 17-building dormitory in the Wat Sri Waree Noi area near Suvarnabhumi Airport.

"The group has strong intentions of being a property developer as the property business has potential to grow in the future," said Mr Boon "We aim to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the next five years."

Mr Boon, who is also the country director of Trans Equatorial Indochina Co Ltd, said the company needed to develop at least three projects with a combined value of four to five billion baht per year to meet that goal.

Outside Thailand, the medium-sized contractor has subsidiaries in Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia and Dubai.