Another outside the box company has decided to enter Bangkok’s luxury condominium market. Craft paper maker Panjapol Fibre Container plans to launch a high-end condo project in Phloenchit are worth THB1 billion.
Chotivit Tejavibulya, managing director of Panjapol Fibre Container’s real estate business Panjapol Property, told media that the company is entering property development because demand in the high-end condos remains strong even with Thailand’s economy struggling. It was also noted that this represents a new opportunity for the business which has had success in other markets.
“We will apply experiences from housing development in the high-end market of Singapore’s Sentosa to develop a residential project in Bangkok,” Chotivit explained. “We will focus on the high-end market and the central business district area.”
Craft Ploenchit will be the company’s first project. The eight-story condo will be constructed on a 387 sq. wah plot of land on Soi Nai Lert. There will be a total of 90 units and prices will start at THB200,000 per sqm.
Panjapol Property is still a relative newcomer when it comes to real estate in Thailand and the company was founded in 2014 when Panjapol Fibre Container acquired the land on Phloenchit. The company’s property business also has two office towers for rent. These are the United Center on Silom Road and the Esso building on Rama IV Road. Panjapol Property has a number of shophouses for rent in Bangkok as well and currently has four properties in Singapore and Hong Kong.
However, paper is where the company made its name. Panjapol Fibre Container is one of the biggest paper makers in Thailand boasting a production capacity of more than one million tonnes each year. The money the paper company made allowed them to create the real estate subsidiary and buy the valuable land in Bangkok’s central business district.
Prices in the Ploenchit area have increased dramatically in the past few years. Prices are now THB2 million per sq. wah up from the THB1.5 million level they were at earlier in the decade.
