Empty Riverside Condos

[eric1000]

i was looking at riverside condos and there seems to be a number of hulks left over from the crash of 97 , plus it seems large chunks of derelict land on both sides of the river . In any other captial city these would be prime riverside real estate ,easilly saleable properties . A farang sales team could shift these quite easilly to overseas punters ,its all down to good marketing ...

Maybe its just not central enough for development .

[Highwayman]

In any other captial city these would be prime riverside real estate ,easilly saleable properties

Not easily saleable due to the legal morass involved.

Three quarters of derelict buildings in Bangkok left incomplete due to the 1997 financial crisis are simply not worth renovating. There is heavy competition already among newly launched condominium projects and the fact that the market might become even more saturated.

A survey of incomplete buildings found that many have been closed to make way for mass transit projects. Many projects cannot be restarted because creditors and debtors will not agree on financial matters. The major factor making it difficult for halted condominium projects to resume is failure to restructure debt, which for condominiums is more complicated than for any other type of property.

[OldAsiaHand]

In any other captial city these would be prime riverside real estate ,easilly saleable properties .

I've always thought that it was odd that the river here just doesn't make it for most Thais as a high-prestige place to live. It's really the only natural geographical feature Bangkok has, and you're quite right, in any other city anywhere in the world it would be the core of the high-rent district. But here the river is left mostly to a few hotels and a few middle-priced apartment blocks while the big money folks live in Sukhumvit with a view of the Tops Supermarket. Go figure.

[lovecam]

i feel another important factor to take into account is that they have been empty for so long and the soil and area may not be as safe as people realise. to start the projects again might just be throwing more money away. the buildings have a higher chance of falling and collasping. so the rich would not want to take a chance when they can choose sukumvit or more into sathorn instead.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

i feel another important factor to take into account is that they have been empty for so long and the soil and area may not be as safe as people realise. to start the projects again might just be throwing more money away. the buildings have a higher chance of falling and collasping. so the rich would not want to take a chance when they can choose sukumvit or more into sathorn instead.

It is said that Bangkok Metropolitan won't permit further work on some of those sites because the steel has rusted and they want the building shells pulled down Nothing is happening as yet because matters are before Courts.

[penzman]

North of Chonburi, on the tollway 's east side there are two very neat white towers, probably around twenty floors each, seemed like construction was finished last year, saw it few times again this year, still no lights at night. My wife mentioned a bad luck or ghost story about these towers, must be related to '97.... Amazes me how much money was invested in building them and that they are still vacant.

[chingy_]

the Thai does not know how to utilize their river bank, many time we propose to the government to landscape the river bank to turn it into a park or somekind of rest area, but i guess the Gov is not into beautification

[OldAsiaHand]

Alas, folks whose primary concern is qualitity of life usually can't pay the bribes that are generally required to accomplish anything of substance around here.

[otherstuff1957]

The Thai Real Estate Market is very strange by western standards. One problem is that a lot of the riverfront land is owned by the Wats and by squatters. There is or at least used to be, a law that if someone built a house on "vacant" land and lived in it for ten years, they got some kind of right or title to the land. However, they did not get a Chinote or a legal, transferrable title. Consequently, you have these crowded shantytowns all over Bangkok, including sections of the riverfront, which will never go away. The same families will have lived in these houses for generations and don't want to move out, as they cannot legally sell the houses!

[Crash999]

There is or at least used to be, a law that if someone built a house on "vacant" land and lived in it for ten years, they got some kind of right or title to the land. However, they did not get a Chinote or a legal, transferrable title.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that this somehow is related to all the mysterious fires in the squatter areas. Hmmm....

[wolf5370]

Crash, you're so sceptical

I have also heard that the owners of these land/buildings want to recover the full cost. In the west, most companies/banks etc that end up with white elephants like this sell for whatever they can get to recoup what they can. Not so in LOS. They will happily sit on the land until they can get back what they are out of pocket - which will be a verrrrrrrrrrry long time me thinks!

[Digger]

i was looking at riverside condos and there seems to be a number of hulks left over from the crash of 97 , plus it seems large chunks of derelict land on both sides of the river . In any other captial city these would be prime riverside real estate ,easilly saleable properties . A farang sales team could shift these quite easilly to overseas punters ,its all down to good marketing ...

Maybe its just not central enough for development .

I could never fathom this one out. e.g on Rama 3 you are perfectly positioned and can get to most parts of BKK quickly but many buildings are half empty. One is pretty full however and sell at 18,000,000 baht for a full riverfront condo about 300 sq m but the building next door (and equally as nice) is pitch black for the most part

[chingy_]

maybe the building is bankrupt, if you can find out which bank own it, ask for a deal, you might get it for 1/2 the price

[OldAsiaHand]

I have also heard that the owners of these land/buildings want to recover the full cost. In the west, most companies/banks etc that end up with white elephants like this sell for whatever they can get to recoup what they can. Not so in LOS. They will happily sit on the land until they can get back what they are out of pocket.

Exactly right. On the whole, Thais seem to think that the laws of financial gravity don't apply to them because...well, they're Thai, and as westerners never will understand, things are 'different' here.

That is really what distorts the real estate market here into something entirely unrecognizable to most foreigners. During normal down cycles, there are few if any bargains around, the acquisition of which is the sort of thing that tends to reenergize a market in most normal places. Instead, all the sellers and all the buyers just disappear and wait for what are perceived as better days and the market disappears with them.

Did you ever hear the one about the Thai who rented out four apartments? Times were bad and two of them were vacant. As a result she went to her two sitting tenants and informed them that she had to double their rents so she would have the same amount of income.

True story.