Thaniya plans green community mall

Srinakarin Road project to cost B1.5bn

Thaniya Group, the developer of the Springfield Royal Country Club, has earmarked 1.5 billion baht to develop its first neighbourhood community mall next year on land it owns on Srinakarin Road in Bangkok.

Sunantha Sombuntham, the company’s CEO, said yesterday that Thanya Shopping Park would be built on 16 rai of land near the intersection of Srinakarin and Phatthanakan roads at a cost of more than 2.5 billion baht. Of that, 1.5 billion baht will be for used for construction costs. The rest was the cost of the land, which has already been purchased. Funding will come from the company’s cash flow and bank loans.

Thaniya has more than 40 years of experiences in real estate development and plaza management. It owns Thaniya Plaza on Silom Road.

Recently, Thanya Ville Co was set up to operate the Thanya Shopping Park, which will start construction within the next three months and be completed by the end of next year.

“We’ve seen many neighbourhood community malls open in the US in the past 20 years, and we bought this plot of land at the same time. We believe now is the right time to develop a community mall on it,” said Ms Sunantha.

She explained the new retail complex would be divided into five low-rise buildings with a unique green community concept.

“Our community mall will have not only a very pleasing natural environment, but also it will have all amenities for retail, recreation and entertainment to meet the lifestyle needs of people of all ages,” said Ms Sunantha.

Thanya Shopping Park will have 70,000 square metres of gross space, with 20,000 sq m reserved for retail purposes. About 40-50% of the gross space will be devoted to green areas with contemporary designs that reflect every aspect of botanical hybrid architecture.

The company will have more than 700 outlets – supermarkets, fashion, IT and other services, plus parking. Some 40,000 visitors are expected on weekdays, up to 70,000 on weekends.

It has opened bookings for space rental and expects to achieve 70% of space reservations within three months. The company expects the project will break even within the next five years.

Apart from Thanya Shopping Park, the company also plans to develop another retail complex in Bangkok over the next three years.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com