HLH Group, an agriculture and property firm, announced its first residential project in Cambodia is set to be launched in October, AsiaOne reported. D’Seaview is a mixed-use executive condominium development that will be located on freehold land in the Sihanoukville, one the country’s leading beach areas.
The project is scheduled to be completed in slightly over two years and construction will begin before the end of 2015. HLH has a portfolio of agriculture projects in Cambodia but this project will be it first foray into the company’s property market. The project will fall under the company’s residential project brand, Camhomes, and is just the start of more expansive plans to become involved in the country’s property sector.
HLH has plans to develop more than 3,000 prime apartment and executive condo units in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville between now and the end of 2016. The company expansions plans for Cambodia are done so to better serve locals, chief executive Johnny Ong said.
Cambodia is suffering from a lack of affordable housing in major cities and demand could reach 1.1 million homes in the coming years, largely because of an influx of people from rural areas seeking jobs and education, Ong noted.
“Local developers are doing landed property. Others from overseas, including Singapore, are doing luxury condos,” he said. The prices of these properties can cost USD70,000 to USD1 million, but aren’t always targeted towards locals. He pointed out that developers are looking for a different mix of buyers with 90 percent being foreigners and the other 10 percent locals.
Camhomes would like to flip these numbers for its projects in the country and hopes to bring in 90 percent locals, 10 percent foreigners. Young couples and entrepreneurs are two key areas the company is looking to target, according to AsiaOne.
Ong added that he remains optimistic about prospects in Cambodia as the country continues to welcome investors and businesses. The Asian Development Bank expects Cambodia’s economic growth to reach 7.3 percent this year, up from seven percent last year.
