Inside PACE
Founded in 2004, PACE Development Corportaion (formerly “Cinkara”) is Thailand’s leading high end property developer with a vision to introduce new trends to the property market, improving the landscape through world-class design, and enhancing and redefining how people live, work and enjoy life.
Led by CEO Sorapoj Techakraisri and Executive Director Chotipol Techakraisri, PACE focuses on luxury residential and mixed use developments that utilize world class design with quality standards backed up by more than 25 years of experience in the property development sector.
AS CEO OF PACE, SORAPOJ BELIEVES THE PACE VISION IS A MAJOR GROWTH SECTOR FOR THE THAI PROPERTY MARKET. WE SAT DOWN WITH SORAPOJ TO UNDERSTAND HOW PACE IS MOVING FORWARD FOR 2012.
Momentum :
Firstly, let’s talk about the existing developments. Saladaeng Residences is now in the handover stage?
Saladaeng Residences has been in the process of hand over since late 2011 with more than 50% of the residents now living in the building. Interestingly, more than 80% of the residents are owner occupiers, which is quite unusual for a Bangkok condominium, and we believe reflects a new trend where families and professionals will start living in the inner city in condos rather than the suburbs in houses. The proviso for this is of course having the facilities and quality that the owners are looking for if they intend to live there.
Handover is when owners note all the defects and items needing fixing prior to taking ownership; in the case of Saladaeng we have set a new industry standard; typically condos run at 80-100 defects per unit needing to be fixed from tile defects, non working handles, to inconsistent painting. Our ‘zero defects’ policy saw a substantial number of units handed over without a single defective item and a very low number of defects overall, the result of planning and management of construction throughout the last 3 years.
This attention to quality was very evident in the recent Open House Event, where we sold many of the remaining 15% of units left in Saladaeng Residences, and the feedback from our client base was extremely positive. After 3 years of inspections and checks, it’s easy to forget how important setting a new standard in quality is, and the market clearly appreciates this new way of delivering real estate.
And MahaNakhon is now under construction. How far is the piling work along?
Piling work for both the main tower and the smaller ‘cube’ retail building is 100% complete, and underground works on the cube has reached [as of early April] to the B3 level, as the underground parking and lift core go into the building. Piles extend more than 65m deep to support the 314m tall tower, so this was a substantial component of the work for which we used leading publicly listed piling contractor SEAFCO.
I know a lot of people are waiting to see MahaNakhon above ground work, and I am delighted to say we expect to see MahaNakhon rising starting after the Thai New Year. In fact, we are at the moment finalising the above ground tender and appointment of the main contractor for both the main tower and the smaller cube.
What this means is that the Cube will be ready for handover to retail tenants in 1st quarter 2013 by which time the main tower will have progressed significantly. Therefore within 2012, we can expect to complete leasing for the retail portion, continue sales of the residences and you will continue to see updates on construction progress which is newsworthy globally, given the recognised landmark status of the development worldwide.
Financing has been a major subject for MahaNakhon, as it is a 18 billion baht project, one of the largest in the region. What is the latest update?
A development of the magnitude of MahaNakhon with the mixed-use hotel, retail and residential elements makes any finance arrangement a little more complex than a more typical residential tower such as Ficus Lane or Saladaeng Residences that we completed in the past.
I am delighted to be able to reveal today that we are partnered with Siam Commercial Bank, Thailand’s leading commercial bank for the construction loan and financing. This means that the source of funds for the entire development is now concluded and on schedule with regards to the construction timeline.
Naturally, the success of sales in the last 12 months has helped also, in particular the interest from abroad since the 2011 elections which has been particularly strong in 2012 with perception of Thailand as a relatively safe market and MahaNakhon as a gold standard of quality within this market. It is important not to overlook the substantial local interest as well, and we continue to see Thai buyers, particularly those educated abroad and familiar with the high standards set by The Ritz-Carlton, appreciating that for the first time in the Thai market, it is now possible to get the same quality of development seen in London, New York, Hong Kong or Tokyo.