Compact, no-frills, fullyfitted apartments prove successful

Interesting piece from the Nation ...

Last Sunday at 1pm, just a few metres from the My Condo showroom at Sukhumvit 103 or Soi Udomsuk, another grisly road accident took place.

A red plated Honda Civic and motorcycle collided, becoming one of the many daily tragedies that mar Udomsuk, largely because of poor driving so commonly found in this high-density zone.

For visitors to My Condo's showroom at Soi 27, do take extra care as weaving bikers tend to sprint abruptly out of small sois, often with little regard for safety.

As the Darwinian selection of the fittest takes its toll, it is essential to realise that while Udomsuk may be regarded a tranquil place five years ago, much has changed in the last two years, not always for the better.

With huge population shift into this low-rent area and the land speculation that exploded with Suvarnabhumi International Airport's opening last year, this eastern suburbs is now more chaotic and congested than ever before.

Yet My Condo is one of the best property projects one will find in this largely overpriced residential zone. It also carries the Plus Property brand, one of Bangkok's more dependable middle-end homebuilders.

With studio units of 24 square metres starting from just a little over Bt1 million, buyers at My Condo are getting good value. While it is true that 24 square metres do not seem like a lot of room, the fact that developer Plus Property has fitted all the units with built in furniture, kitchen, air-conditioners - and even provides the bed - all buyers need to do is carry in their luggage.

To be sure, the project is not meant for seasoned homebuyers who expect much more living space as well as recreational facilities.

My Condo is not designed to have a clubhouse or swimming pool, nor does it provide a great deal of parking space.

Under the current condominium law, developers need not provide 5 per cent of their overall space as common areas, not even gardens, let alone a fitness centre. To be sure, earlier Plus projects such as the One Condos provided more facilities, the price for those units are much higher than the ones at this new batch of city units.

The Sukhumvit site is one of three My Condo locations currently being sold. The best selling one is at Taksin Sathorn, with units starting from Bt1.3 million because it is situated just 100 metres from a new BTS skytrain station.

The Udomsuk estate is much farther away from the new BTS station being constructed presently, which is creating havoc for commuters the past six months and is expected to clog traffic flow for another year.

The success of the projects is evident. On a recent visit to the Udomsuk office, the sales people, who are extremely pleasant, said all of the 210 one-bedroom units, which are nicely designed and selling from Bt1.3 million, are booked.

What remains are its 24-metre studios. This goes to prove that given the choice, buyers will still prefer paying a bit more money to get a bigger unit even though a smaller one may cost about 30 per cent less.

Upon closer inspection, one will immediately discover that the 33.6-sqaure metre units provide two air-conditioners and supply a small dining area.

The studios only have one air conditioner each and there is no dining space provided, which will of course not affect people who eat on beds or on the floor.

But as for balcony spaces, both types have the same sized standing-room-only balconies and the bathrooms are more or less equal in size.

Overall the units will be contained in two U-shaped buildings, both eight-storeys tall.

The parking spaces are distributed along the spaces bordering the walls of the project. It would therefore help if buyers did not have big cars and do not hold parties, which may require guest parking.

Plus Property is targeting the 25-35 age group. They are mostly urban professionals who are industrious, probably starting work early in the morning and staying late.

As such, the developer believes they will lead sedentary lives, with low levels of social interaction and only needing very basic living facilities.

In the philosophical book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", the unusual hero discovers most birds fly to eat but very few eat to fly - and do things like breaking speed records.

The buyers here are probably of the second type, far more ambitious and with a greater appetite for labour than the average worker.

Plus has been able to obtain good furniture supplies here from Index, a local brand that has recently opened up several large stores in Bangkok and Phuket.

The My Condo units are really built for efficiency and expects the user to be tidy and not a great collector of large articles as storage space is limited.