Housing Developer Preuksa Scores With Ivy

Moves to tap urban buyers in Ratchada, Bangkok.

To identify opportunities, developers need to pay attention to changes in the marketplace, says Prasert Taedullayasatit, Preuksa Real Estate's chief business officer.

"This is especially true in urban housing, where competition is fierce and the chances of breaking out of one's core segment is tough," says Prasert, 39, a former Lalin and Siam Cement executive.

But Preuksa has recently scored well with Ivy Ratchada, a 399-unit middle-end condominium project 150 metres away from the Suthisarn subway station at Ratchadaphisek Soi 20. The site will land Preuksa Bt800 million, almost a tenth of its estimated Bt10-billion sales target this year.

Why is it drawing such crowds? "We've found the lifestyle of young Bangkok consumers have changed. In the past, they bought cars before homes. Today, many are buying condos first.

"In the past, people needed cars to go on a date, as buses were perceived as less romantic," he says. "With the BTS Skytrain and MRT subway, they no longer need cars and prefer mass transit, which is faster and cheaper. With condos linked to these lines, they can travel comfortably. Ivy condos are targeting them."

Ivy is a departure from Preuksa's lower middle-end housing market, which it dominates with a 70-per-cent share. It also encroaches on a segment that was once shared between Asian Property, Supalai and Plus Property.

"We're creating our own brand and design," says Prasert, who is also a top director. "We're not copying others."

During a visit to Ivy, which shares a tranquil compound with the Preecha Complex, one could sense there was originality and quality in the apartments.

Two show units, a 30-square-metre studio and 35-square-metre one bedroom, showed sleek interiors and felt roomy despite the small built-up area.

Innovative ways were found to provide an appearance of open, bright spaces. Special balconies have been built to hide ugly compressors, making the units more inviting compared with cramped units from unprofessional outfits.

For the current promotion, buyers will receive free air-conditioners and some built-in items.

On a price basis, Ivy is competitive as the starting floor price of Bt53,000 a square metre is below that of its nearest rival on Ratchadaphisek Road.

Preuksa sales staff do not push questionnaires for visitors to fill out when they walk in. "We want our buyers to book units, not fill out forms," Prasert says.

"On opening day alone, we had people queuing since the early morning hours," Prasert revealed. Even amid some of the most daunting times of political unrest and dissent, Preuksa managed to sell without much difficulty at all.

"The strategy," Prasert reveals, "is we do our homework before the launch. We employ professionals, mostly outsourcing the experts and talent that we lack, to finalise the design for the Ivy units."

"We spent a great deal of time to formulate the best features for the units to ensure they possessed enough advantages to beat our competition, design-wise as well as price-wise," he says.

"In selling property, we cannot afford mistakes. If we had launched faulty units, our buyers will just choose our competition's products, and we could be stuck with an expensive failure."

Leaving nothing to chance, Prasert enlisted seasoned veterans.

"We needed units that were professionally done so they would sell quickly," he says. By shortening the selling period, Preuksa is not stuck with a problem site. It can therefore move on to new lucrative projects.

Unlike some developers, Preuksa delivers its homes as fast as it possibly can. Because it possesses its own designers and builders, construction is rapid, as is its timetable for transferring home-ownership.

The speed of delivery reduces costs, maximises profit margins and cuts down wastage, he says.

Ivy Ratchada should be ready by the middle of next year, a 13-month schedule few firms can match.

Preuksa's strengths have drawn many investors, among them US pension fund Calpers, which holds a 5-per-cent stake. The firm was listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand three years ago and is widely considered one of the more transparent and professionally run property companies.

Source: The Nation