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PROPERTY INVESTMENT
NINA SUEBSUKCHAROEN
In this age of globalisation, the divide between East and West seems to have become blurred. But things are still done differently in the two halves of the world, and this certainly applies to property development. In the UK, for instance, some concepts unfamiliar to Thailand's market could be very welcome.
For instance, says Joel Feldman, managing director of Akando Co Ltd, why shouldn't developers be obliged to make their projects benefit the wider community?
Akando is developing 275 out of 700 flats at FP Condominium in Lat Phrao Soi 48 on behalf of the UK-based Lizmans Property Fund. And, despite the conflict with his own financial interest, he would like to see such developments adding value to their cities.
''Truthfully, that is what the administration should ensure. It shouldn't be about trying to please developers and to let them make their profits. If they can't make their profits then they don't do it,'' he says.
In London a developer cannot get planning consent for any project of more than 14 units without a tradeoff in social housing for key workers such as firefighters, police officers, schoolteachers and nurses. Because workers in these professions cannot afford the city's property prices, the British government has obliged developers to participate in a subsidised scheme.
''The key worker is allowed to buy a shared ownership with the government taking 50%. It's a lower price but it's still done to the required quality and specification,'' he says.
Mr Feldman also sees an instructive comparison with the UK in the development of the Thames and the Chao Phraya rivers.
''If you look at the Docklands, South Bank and all the way up the [Thames] river now they have done an amazing regeneration,'' he says.
And Mr Feldman believes the Chao Phraya has greater potential than the Thames because it is more of a ''working river''. While the Thames stops being a working river when it reaches London, the Chao Phraya is a working river up to Ayutthaya and beyond.
''They should plan it properly. You can make amazing marinas and make it so much nicer for everybody,'' he says.
Naturally, Mr Feldman is also keen on preserving old buildings. In his opinion, preservation orders should be extended to include the humble buildings that maintain Thai traditions.
He suggests that Chinatown should be refurbished and its older structures should be protected from being demolished and replaced with big buildings. ''Keep the old feeling,'' he says.
Mr Feldman adds that he sees no reason why buildings in Thailand should be expected to last only 15-20 years.
''You know, that is actually a very Chinese way of thinking about it,'' he says. ''It's something you see in Hong Kong all the time. In Hong Kong, you can have an amazing building of 40 or 50 storeys that has been in existence for 20 years. It can actually be in good shape structurally but hasn't been decorated very well. And developers buy these buildings and just pull them down and rebuild again.''
Of course, Hong Kong developers do this because it works out cheaper to pull down the structure and rebuild rather than refurbish and maintain it. However, in the West, lots of very old buildings are still in use because care has been taken to maintain them properly.
Mr Feldman gives an instance of the value of old buildings in the recent sale of a 75% stake in the Chrysler Building, one of New York's landmark skyscrapers, to the Abu Dhabi Investment Council for $800 million. This 77-storey Art Deco tower was built in 1930.
''It's still standing and it looks perfect. It's not just old houses that deserve keeping, but skyscrapers too,'' he says.
Mr Feldman claims to be applying this approach to refurbishing 275 units at FP Condominium.
''Everything we could use that was existing we did,'' he says. ''We stripped the walls and put on new plaster. We have wooden laminated floors. We have a lot of wood finishes. The beds and the wardrobes are wood, so we tried to use as many natural products as possible.''
Mr Feldman calculates that refurbishment is probably more expensive than building something new.
''You have to work within the existing framework and it makes it slightly more complicated and therefore you work slightly harder,'' he says.
However, the buyer has the benefit of seeing both the property and the community living in it _ a big advantage over projects sold off plan.
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