CP Land has revealed its business plan for the commercial development sector in preparation for Thailand’s AEC participation, seeking to build office buildings in major provincial cities and take advantage of the local business booms.
The company already has strategically located property in Bangkok, including CP Tower I (Silom), CP Tower II (Fortune Town) and CP Tower III (Phayathai), which are well-linked with the metropolis’s transport systems. These properties are drivers of robust corporate growth and through renovation the company hopes to aggregate its annual revenue to THB 1bn.
Sunthorn Arunanondchai, President & CEO of CP Land Plc (center) poses for a photo with Executive Vice President Somkiat Ruentongdee and Vice President of Facility Management, Salya Mulasastra.
Sunthorn Arunanondchai, President & CEO of CP Land Plc, has cast a positive outlook for his firm’s office building and shopping centre businesses in Thailand over the next three years, expressing his confidence that the demand for rental space will rise due to increased foreign interests in Bangkok and Thai office and retail space in general in the wake of the formation of the Asean Economic Community in 2015.
“Thailand is strategically located in the centre of South East Asia, and it is fully prepared to serve as the regional hub, thanks to corporate tax privileges, which are attracting international firms. They are interested in locating their offices here, and along with the government’s decentralization policy and transport development projects, this will drive the demand for rental space even higher. We also see very high growth potential in the major provincial cities,” said Sunthorn.
CP Land has invested in over 5,600 units of residential condominiums and housing developments in 16 provinces in every region of the country. Somkiat Ruentongdee, CP Land?s Executive Vice President, commented that his company’s three-year investment plan focuses not only on residential development in the provincial areas but also on development of office buildings and shopping centres in major cities, including Khon Kaen, Phitsanulok, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, etc.
“Six- to ten-storey office buildings will be built in the business districts that offer convenient transportation,” said Somkiat. “CP Land aims to tap the demand for office buildings among prospective customers in the provinces who seek to impress and win trust from their business partners, and enjoy a convenient work environment. The trend will be that many business firms will abandon shophouse offices and move into modern, full facility based office buildings,” he added.
CP Land’s office buildings in Bangkok are also generating impressive results in both the CBD and non CBD areas, providing a total space of 4.6 million sq m and over 90% occupancy rate, with per sq m rental rates that are increasing every year.
For Bangkok shopping centres, the available space is over 5.9 million sq m and the occupancy rate is over 95%, Somkiat said.
The company’s main Bangkok office building/shopping centre complexes, namely, CP Tower I (Silom), CP Tower II (Fortune Town) and CP Tower III (Phayathai), have recently undergone renovation and modernization of the three buildings. While CP Tower II (Fortune Town), which consists of office and retail shopping sections, has been upgraded to cater to the ongoing formation of a new business and financial district along Ratchadaphisek Road, two skywalks have been built to link CP Tower III (Phayathai) to the Phayathai BTS and Airport-link skytrain stations. This has increased the number of customers flowing into the building. In addition, by the end of this year, the rental retail areas of CP Tower I (Silom) will also be renovated to make them meet the expectation of customers.
Salya Mulasastra, CP Land’s Vice President of Facility Management, noted: “We are confident that these three buildings, where the office and retail space are 100% occupied, will be generating constant rental revenue for us. The rental rates will also keep rising in the future, which will enable our firm to achieve future revenue growth, and hit our target of THB 1bn.”
CP Tower I in Silom, Bankok.
