REAL ESTATE / OFFICE PROPERTY

TCC Land Commercial cuts rents for top-end space

WORANUJ MANEERUNGSEE

The property rental specialist TCC Land Commercial has reduced the rents of its premium office space in response to a more uncertain economy since the New Year's Eve bomb blasts in Bangkok and Nonthaburi.

The affiliate of the TCC Group owned by liquor billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi controls some of the most expensive office space in the capital. However, it was reducing its asking prices to 800 baht per square metre per month from earlier rates of 900 to 1,000 baht at its brand-new Athe{aac}ne{aac}e building on Wireless Road, with usable space of 40,000 square metres, according to president Chaiyapong Poosunthornsri.

Mr Chaiyapong said the building, scheduled to open mid-year, targeted foreign companies, some of which had been taking a second look at their business plans for Thailand.

Foreign business sentiment has been badly affected by the capital controls imposed last month by the Bank of Thailand and imminent amendments to the Foreign Business Act.

TCC Land Commercial has renovated another high-end office building, with 100,000 square metres, on Ratchadaphisek Road near the Thailand Cultural Center, to be completed next year. Its flagship site is Empire Tower on Sathorn Road.

Mr Chaiyapong said demand for office space in the central business district, such as the Sathorn and Silom areas, had not dropped, but property owners were just unable to raise prices.

The company also operates the Tawanna lifestyle retail complex and will open four new complexes in Bangkok by the end of this year. He said the new ones would be different from the original Bang Kapi branch, which focused on IT. But all new branches would focus on the medium-to upper market, with more high-fashion and trendy goods.

Tawanna Square, located on 32 rai in Lat Phrao near the first Tawanna, opened recently. The other three sites, in Bang Bo, Ngam Wong Wan and Chaeng Watthana, are under construction.

The four projects will cost about 800 million baht in total, excluding land. The company forecasts total revenue from the projects to reach nearly 300 million baht per year.

It also plans retail complexes under the Tawanna brand in upcountry locations such as Chiang Mai, and a 100-rai complex near the Burmese border in Mae Sai district.

Mr Chaiyapong said the firm was focusing on the medium- to upper-end retail market as there was limited competition.

''There's only a single rival, Chatuchak weekend market, and it is just one site, while we have Tawanna in many locations, like a shopper's neighbour,'' he said.

Thai consumers, he noted, were becoming less concerned about brand names but wanted distinctive and trendy products at cheaper prices.

Bangkok Post
Sunday January 28, 2007