Chinese state-owned firm China Tianchen Engineering Corporation (TCC) and its Thai partner are set to launch a completed condo project worth 1.9 billion baht on On Nut Road in Bangkok. The move reflects the company's confidence in the Thai property market.
Executive director Guo Hai Xin said Thailand was the first country outside China where TCC had made a property investment. The move was prompted by Thailand's attractiveness for investment, particularly in the property sector.
"Property demand is from both Thai and foreign buyers," he said yesterday during a visit to Bangkok. "Thailand is in a strategic location in the region. Chinese people prefer buying condos in major cities like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Phuket."
In 2012, TCC set up a joint venture with Thai chemical producer Mahachai Chemicals Co and established CTCC Engineering Co. The company bought a three-rai plot of land on Soi On Nut from condo developer Grand Unity Development Co which had left it unbuilt because of a condo oversupply in the area that year.
It developed a 30-storey condo project, Artemis Sukhumvit 77, worth 1.9 billion baht with a total of 673 units sized 26-74 square metres. The units were priced 79,000 baht per sq m on average and started at 2.1 million baht per unit.
Next week at the House & Condo fair, the company will introduce the project to prospective buyers. It expects to have sold 40% of them by the end of this month and 100% by year-end.
"We completed construction of the project before putting units up for sale to build confidence among buyers that we were maintaining strict quality control," said Mr Guo, who added that TCC was interested in further investment in the Thai property market.
The company is eyeing opportunities in long-term ventures such as hotels, serviced apartments and the retail sector with a target yield of 9%.
Tianjin-based TCC, which recorded a turnover of more than 50 billion baht last year in China, is also interested in infrastructure and public utility projects.