Thailand Real Estate Magazine

Ocean Tower 1

Work is about to begin on what will be Thailand´s tallest condominium tower as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted by the developers Ocean Tower 1 has finally been accepted and a building permit issued.

Work on Siam Best Enterprise Company´s Bt12 billion tower, which will be constructed at Pattaya´s Jomtien Beach, is scheduled to kick off at the end of March 2008.

“We planned to break ground last year,” said Bruno Pingel, the company´s chief executive. “The EIA approval took longer then estimated, due to the complexity of the tower.”

He continued, “The fact that it was such a thorough, exhaustive and professional exercise is very reassuring as regards the future standards and quality control of all high-rise developments.”

The development´s sales manager, Rob Astbury added, “If there is one thing that has emerged from this whole exercise I suggest it is this - we cannot control future property development, but we now know the quality and credentials of high-rise developments will be scrutinised to the utmost degree.” He continued, “We have no doubt our perseverance and confirmation by the EIA will see plans for other similar projects emerge in the near future.”

Unit in the 91-storey 327m tower are priced at Bt137,500 per sqm on floors 10-14, Bt143,000 per sqm on floors 15-50 and Bt148,500 on floors 52-85. Studio apartments in the tower are priced at Bt143,000 per sqm throughout. However, the developer has already raised costs on seven occasions to date, and is expected to do so again once construction is underway.