Rienchai Likitplug, president of the property developer BKK Grand Estate Co, said the skytrain extension from Sois On Nut to Bearing that began running last year has triggered a boom in Bang Na.
The area has changed dramatically in recent years, especially near the Bang Na intersection, he said.
As soon as the skytrain opened service to Bearing station, the sales rate for the company’s condominium project The Coast Bangkok, located near the Bang Na intersection on Sukhumvit Road opposite the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre, doubled to 40-50 units a month.
Launched in late 2009, the eight-rai site will comprise Tower A with 39 storeys and 412 units and Tower B with 35 storeys and 408 units for a total sales value of 4.5 billion baht.
Tower A has fewer than 5% of its units left for sale and will start transferring to customers during this quarter, while Tower B is 70% complete and half sold.
Also forthcoming is The Coast Village, a 6,000-square-metre mall in the same spot that the company is spending 500 million baht to develop.
It will open this coming Sunday with rental rates of 1,000 to 1,300 baht per sq m per month.
Thanks to the BTS extension, selling prices rose by 10% from the launch date to mid-2011.
Prices are now 80,000 to 100,000 baht per sq m, up from 69,000 baht originally but still lower than for other projects due to lower land costs, said Mr Rienchai.
The running of the skytrain to Soi Bearing has made Bangkok’s eastern fringe more of a draw.
Mr Rienchai estimates more than 15,000 condominium units in Bang Na district will be finished in the next few years.
The boom will create new consumers, drawing investment from The Mall Group, one of the country’s two giant shopping centre operators, and new players such as the TCC Group.
Both plan to build shopping complexes in Bang Na, making use of the large land plots available.
Mr Rienchai said BKK Grand Estate expects revenue of 500 million baht from condo transfers at The Coast’s Tower A and Tower B this year.
“The skyrocketing cost of land near mass transit, the new daily minimum wage of 300 baht, the increase of 15% in construction material prices and tighter competition in the condominium market are causing more difficulties in new condo development,” he said.
The company is eyeing single houses or townhouses for future development and plans to spend 500 million baht to develop a nine-rai community mall on Theparak Road in 2014.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/318573/extension-transforms-bang-na