Moving away from the mass market

PHUKET: Founding member of the Phuket Real Estate Association (PREA) and president of Phuket-based developers The Onella, Sam Sethi, is a Phuket native and part of a successful family-run business on the island with a strong record in residential and hospitality development.

Over the past 20 years, Sam has focused on developing mixed-use commercial and residential properties that are a notch above the mass market, including Bangla Square in Patong; bungalows, restaurants and retail shops near Kata Beach Resort and Phuket Golf & Country Homes at Phuket Country Club.

In a recent interview with the Phuket Gazette, Mr Sethi discusses the emerging trend in central Phuket’s property market and gives his take on the kind of investors the island is destined to attract over the next decade or so.

Sam Sethi: Although Phuket’s property market has largely blossomed from a fertile bed of tourism-based industries – inevitably turning coastal areas into prime plots of real estate – reliance on the fickle mass tourism industry alone is not the way forward.

Instead, smart investors are now turning towards central Phuket as the ideal multi-purpose regional hub with much more stability than mass tourism, especially with the inevitable influx of commercial diversity in 2015 and beyond, with Thailand’s inclusion into the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

The goals of the AEC, in which Phuket already plays a significant role, is to create a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region, equitable economic development and a region fully integrated into the global economy.

This makes now the best time to invest in order to capitalize on central Phuket’s growth in the years ahead. Like many of the island’s coastal areas, central Phuket is being defined as a luxury destination thanks to both government and private sector investment, such as the ongoing infrastructure improvement projects, and the massive investments by Thailand’s largest retail corporations, which are aimed at cashing in on the growing high-end lifestyle market.

This, in turn, brings more executive types from around the region to central Phuket on a long-term basis. They will need the convenience of a central location for their lifestyle needs, as well as accommodation of a certain standard, in private home-like living environments.

Central Phuket’s global-standard facilities such as international schools and hospitals also make it the perfect location to conveniently cover family and lifestyle needs.

As a local developer, we at The Onella have focused on a structure for long-term returns by developing prime locations that offer convenience and a certain level of exclusivity.

Our latest project, Privé 49, is a low-density residence comprising just seven floors with only seven condominium units on each floor with single corridor advantages and offering exclusive hospitality facilities and services right in the heart of Phuket, next to Makro and opposite Head Start International School.

Privé 49 is a combination of exclusive accommodation with a focus on privacy and high-quality hospitality to fit snugly in the central business district’s property niche. The residency has two types of large, secluded units: 42 units measuring 33.25sqm and seven units with 32.96sqm of living space – both fully furnished with a fitted kitchen and extra large en-suite bathroom – something not often considered in less exclusive condominiums.

There will also be a regular shuttle service to nearby stores and places of interest, secure parking and advanced security systems.

An additional investment opportunity/facility we are offering is Cafe 49, which is a separate cafe/restaurant with a garden attached to Privé 49, to provide a place for residents and non-residents to meet, drink, eat and have fun and fruitful times.

For more information about The Onella Co and Privé 49, visit prive49.com, email: info@prive49.com or call 095-079 7779.