CGD to start B15bn mixed-use project
New venture comes as river condo wraps up
SET-listed developer Country Group Development Plc (CGD) plans to launch a new mixed-use project worth over 15 billion baht in the Rama III area.
Chief executive Ben Taechaubol said the new project will be located on a 23-rai plot on the Industrial Ring Road near Rama III Road, which the company acquired last December for 215,000 baht per square wah.
Project development is scheduled to start next year.
This project will be the company’s first to be launched since 2014, when CGD unveiled Four Seasons Private Residences Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, a luxury condominium on Charoen Krung Road, part of the Chao Phraya Estate.
“We focused on the riverfront project during the past four years as it is huge and the luxury segment requires attention to detail,” he said yesterday after the topping off ceremony for the 73-storey Four Seasons Private Residences.
The 305-metre-high tower will have 355 residential units worth 21 billion baht, 70% of which have been sold. The unit price is 350,000 baht per square metre on average for a 75-year lease.
The Chao Phraya Estate includes the 35.5-rai site on Charoen Krung Road by the Chao Phraya River. With a total value of around US$1 billion (31.9 billion baht), Chao Phraya Estate will have two luxury hotels — the 312-room Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok and the 100-room Capella Bangkok.
The project is 70% held by Country Group and 30% by one of China’s largest contractors, Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG), with China’s Ping An Bank providing the project loan.
The residential tower will be completed in October this year, with Country Group expecting revenue will leapfrog to 5 billion baht by the end of 2018 from around 900 million baht last year.
“This luxury project will be a turning point in our financial potential,” Mr Ben said.
The developer also aims to create a new income stream from the hotel business as operations at Capella will start in the fourth quarter this year and the Four Seasons will open in January next year. By 2020 hotel revenues are expected to comprise 35% of total revenue.
Last year the company spent £20 million (885 million baht) to acquire Ovingdean Hall School in Brighton, UK, which generated 65 million baht in rental revenue.
Country Group also has a development plan for an 80-rai plot in Muang district of Chachoengsao, where it will develop a mix of retail space, community mall, market and gas station in anticipation of the
Eastern Economic Corridor, said Mr Ben.
CGD shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 1.35 baht, up one satang, in trade worth 2.44 million baht.