Demand for luxury offices remains high, says Raimon Land CEO
Bangkok continues to retain its allure for foreign companies who considering establishing their headquarters in the region other than Hong Kong and Singapore, especially those seeking grade A offices, Korn Narongdej, CEO of Raimon Land (RML), Thailand's leading luxury and ultra-luxury real estate developer, said.
He made the remarks at the official opening of One City Centre (OCC), Thailand's tallest Grade A+ luxury office building, on Wednesday.
He explained that work-from-home trends following the Covid-19 pandemic may have an impact on demand for offices and co-working space. However, this trend has no impact on the demand for luxury offices.
Aside from the price and prime location, Korn said that luxury offices provided more than just working space. It collaborated with shops, stores, restaurants, and green space to improve white-collar workers' quality of life.
Grade-A buildings capable of providing green and clean efficiency technology to meet the sustainability needs of businesses will be in high demand, and OCC is solid evidence, he said.
Since its soft launch in June 2023, this luxury office building has already reached 70% occupancy, with foreign companies accounting for 60% of the tenants.
"OCC is one of our most significant developments in 2024. Currently, the occupancy rate of office space from leading local and global companies is around 55%, while retail space has achieved 90% occupancy from premium retail stores with very few units available and is expected to reach 100% this year," Korn said.
He cited examples of leading companies from various industries including technology, e-commerce, co-working space, and financial and serviced businesses, such as the Boston Consulting Group (Thailand), Pacific Prime Consultant, Constellation Nord, DLA Piper, BNP Paribas, 10 Bridge, Waylar Corporation, Mitsubishi Estate, CBRE Thailand, and Amadeus Asiathat, which have signed contracts to lease office space at OCC.
In order to sustain its growth, Korn revealed its 2024 strategic plan under the concept of “Reimaging the Pinnacle of Living”.
"We mapped out our 2024 strategic direction with four areas of focus to strengthen our business and deliver all-encompassing ultimate living experience to our customers, while still adhering to our brand philosophy of 'Luxury Reimagined' at the core of all our business operations," he said.
According to its 2024 strategic roadmap, RML aims to generate strong operating results by selling out all projects and meeting previous foreign ownership quotas.
Two ready-to-move-in projects in 2024, “The Estelle Phrom Phong”, an ultra-luxury condominium, is set to achieve 100% ownership transfer in the first quarter of 2024.
The other, Tait Sathorn 12, is expected to be fully sold in the first half of 2024 and achieve 100% ownership transfer in the third quarter of the year.
RML also intends to launch an exclusive presale for two low-rise ultra-luxury projects worth a combined 10 billion baht. The first is a 3-billion-baht low-rise ultra-luxury project in the Sukhumvit area with 5 units at an average unit price of 400 million baht, with an exclusive presale scheduled for the end of the second or early third quarter.
The second is a 7-billion-baht low-rise ultra-luxury project in Kamala Beach, Phuket, with 7 units available in the first phase at an average unit price of 600 million baht, and an exclusive presale scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024.
Raimon Land is Thailand's leading developer of luxury and super-luxury real estate. The company has developed over 25 residential and commercial projects worth more than 100 billion baht across Thailand.
