Shocked In Jomptien

[Pdaz]

Was out early yesterday with a couple of friends.. We cycled down thru Jomptien and then out East of Sukhumvit..

We passed La Royale.. All three of us (especially my Thai friend) were amazed at the condition of the place.. The building in front at the entrance looks like it needs a complete renovation. Are they planning to demolish it ? Or is it as I fear part of the developement ? The colour scheme is 'interesting' to say the least but worse than the colour is the fact that the paint already appears to be faded and peeling..

Surely as a new build it should be sparkling clean and look like a new condo.. Not some leftover from a decade ago.. I was very very suprised as I had thought this to be one of the better developements on offer..

Oh dear.. I'd be very unhappy if I had spent a lot of money on one these units... I can only hope that I'm mistaken and it will be finished off to a higher standard once it finally complete...

[Thaifan2]

They seem to be having trouble finishing it off .So near to completion but there seems to be a hold up .The front building are to be private villas i think .Will probably look OK when finished .Agree the color scheme is not in the best taste .

[kicking]

I went by the other night as I have some friends that bought there. I didn't think it looked that bad, there was security and it was lit up. Seemed that about 10 units were occupied.

The colors however are another story and both posters are correct...

[Pdaz]

I went by the other night as I have some friends that bought there. I didn't think it looked that bad, there was security and it was lit up. Seemed that about 10 units were occupied.

The colors however are another story and both posters are correct...

Go and have another look during daylight hours.. you may change your mind.. Pretty it ain't...

[honey2000]

I went by the other night as I have some friends that bought there. I didn't think it looked that bad, there was security and it was lit up. Seemed that about 10 units were occupied.

The colors however are another story and both posters are correct...

Go and have another look during daylight hours.. you may change your mind.. Pretty it ain't...

It has a lovely garden out front, pity about the abandoned crumbling ruins.

[Phatcharanan]

It's a dump.

[MeetJohnDoe]

Typical 5-star dump of a condo sold to unsuspecting foreigners by the condo-pimps of Patters. Anyone who has ever lived in a neighborhood that was invaded by Chinese buyers will understand the colour scheme...this place was developed by an outfit out of Hong Kong so that explains that.

No more rave stories about this turd building in the local pimp-media now that all their marketing spending has ended.

[Absingjul]

Did the workers ever get their back pay?

[hughden]

It looks better than Ocean 1.....

[Phatcharanan]

It looks better than Ocean 1.....

Mr. Hughden, everything looks better than Ocean 1.

[Wonderboy]

Typical 5-star dump of a condo sold to unsuspecting foreigners by the condo-pimps of Patters. Anyone who has ever lived in a neighborhood that was invaded by Chinese buyers will understand the colour scheme...this place was developed by an outfit out of Hong Kong so that explains that.

No more rave stories about this turd building in the local pimp-media now that all their marketing spending has ended.

Invaded by Chinese buyers? What are you talking about? I live there and while the buildings in front and back are a disgrace in their current state, the tower is ever so slowly getting completed (all resources spent there). Problem is the developer has more or less run out of money, and stuck in a kind of Catch 22. Developer cant speed up without customers paying, and many customers won't pay before everything is finished. Anyway, I am annoyed, but not worried. The project will be finished eventually. When that happens, it will be among the very best high-rise project in the Patttaya area. It might not be the prettiest building from the outside, especially not now, but it surely has great units and the facilities will be second to none.

WB

[johng]

it will be among the very best high-rise project in the Patttaya area.

Untill (no)View Talay buy the land where the derelict shell is now on the seaview side

and build the bestest 27 storey monstrosity, just like they did in front of the Jomthien Complex Condotel.

[Wonderboy]

it will be among the very best high-rise project in the Patttaya area.

Untill (no)View Talay buy the land where the derelict shell is now on the seaview side

and build the bestest 27 storey monstrosity, just like they did in front of the Jomthien Complex Condotel.

That would be a true disaster, but if you mean the land in front of La Royale, then no worries. The 3-floor Bagdad style ruins in front are part of the La Royale project. The developer rently promised that new loans will be secured in a matter of days so they can be finished, but no snide remarks please. I dont believe him either....

WB

[Asianrider]

what percentage of La Royale has been sold ?

[redman]

Wasn't the guy from Eastcoast very happy with his units last time this thread came round?

[Wonderboy]

what percentage of La Royale has been sold ?

More than 90 of the 130+ units have been sold in the main tower with mainly smaller units left. Of those sold, barely forty units have been paid in full and transfered to the owners. Not sure about the villas.

WB

[MeetJohnDoe]

what percentage of La Royale has been sold ?

More than 90 of the 130+ units have been sold in the main tower with mainly smaller units left. Of those sold, barely forty units have been paid in full and transfered to the owners.

Well, in my definition of "sold" (and I would venture its most common meaning) is when the purchase price has been paid to the seller and ownership of the item in question has been transferred to the buyer. So by this definition, less than 1/3 of the units in this building have been sold.

The 90 "pre-sales" were done during the height of the boom a few years ago (as this project has been around for at least 3-4 years) and the 40 completed sales were likely done during the boom as well. There is little likelihood of any of the remaining 50 units in contract being completed, and as for the 40 never sold units, they will be knocked-down to 50% off pre-construction prices.

Edited May 12, 2009 by MeetJohnDoe

[Wonderboy]

Well, in my definition of "sold" (and I would venture its most common meaning) is when the purchase price has been paid to the seller and ownership of the item in question has been transferred to the buyer. So by this definition, less than 1/3 of the units in this building have been sold.

The 90 "pre-sales" were done during the height of the boom a few years ago (as this project has been around for at least 3-4 years) and the 40 completed sales were likely done during the boom as well. There is little likelihood of any of the remaining 50 units in contract being completed, and as for the 40 never sold units, they will be knocked-down to 50% off pre-construction prices.

What do you base your gloating on? Would be nice to be able to snap up a unit at 50% discount, I would be first in line, but it aint gonna happen. The first tenant moved in late November and transfers have been trickling in slowly ever since. All remaining un-transfered units have 40% deposit paid already. Customers who bought a unit as a holiday home are understandably waiting for the entire project, or at least their own unit to be finished before they pay the remainder.

Things should have been a lot better and a lot of the blame for the major delays I put on the developer. But not a single grade A beach-front high-rise in the Pattaya area constructed the last few years is in better state either. Northpoint have even bigger problems, and it is the only other candidate for completion for years to come. When La Royale eventually gets finished, it will help prices that it share it's market segment with only a handfull of other condominiums. La Royale does not have the usual problem of filling the Thai quota either, so if you look for major discounts, La Royale is not the first place I would recomend you to look.

WB

Edited May 12, 2009 by Wonderboy

[MeetJohnDoe]

What do you base your gloating on? Would be nice to be able to snap up a unit at 50% discount, I would be first in line, but it aint gonna happen. The first tenant moved in late November and transfers have been trickling in slowly ever since. All remaining un-transfered units have 40% deposit paid already. Customers who bought a unit as a holiday home are understandably waiting for the entire project, or at least their own unit to be finished before they pay the remainder.

Things should have been a lot better and a lot of the blame for the major delays I put on the developer. But not a single grade A beach-front high-rise in the Pattaya area constructed the last few years is in better state either. Northpoint have even bigger problems, and it is the only other candidate for completion for years to come. When La Royale eventually gets finished, it will help prices that it share it's market segment with only a handful of other condominiums. La Royale does not have the usual problem of filling the Thai quota either, so if you look for major discounts, La Royale is not the first place I would recommend you to look.

WB

I am not gloating...just pointing out a different definition of "sales" and "sold" than you. If you can sell your condo for what you paid for it or more, great...by the way, what are resellers or the developer getting psm for sales right now?

I just get a kick out of the people who buy these turd condos in turd neighborhoods in Turd-World countries for ridiculous prices and then post about how great a deal they got and what a great investment it will be. Don't get me wrong, I like Pattaya...but for what it is...not for what it will never be in the eyes of starry-eyed farangs, the condo pimpsters, and the folks at City Hall. Jomtien being a great location or La Royale being a Grade A building give me a break (giving it a silly French name and spelling doesn't make it so). As has been stated on another concurrently running thread, the sea is polluted, the air is foul most of the year, any sandy beach is being eroded away, there are sewage issues in the area, Jomtien is the first area of Pattaya to run short of water when the dry season comes around...yeah, it's the next up and coming south of France that Jomtien. (The reason for the French name I guess.)

I own a house in Patters and have seen these Issan farmers in action when hired to do basic work around a house (like painting a wall) and have seen how badly they can even f#ck that up. I can only imagine what they have done building all these high-rise condos around town...just be careful whenever you plug in an appliance or take a bath!

As you admit, the developer (touted in the beginning as some cashed-up and experienced operator from Hong Kong) is actually, like all the rest in Patters, operating from the seat of his pants and doesn't even have the funds to complete the building. As this was the case from the beginning, how much would you like to bet he (and his engineers and contractors) substituted sub-standard steel, cement, glass, and everything else for what was called for when the plans were initially drawn-up (and for what you paid "Grade A" pricing for)? And if the developer didn't do it, it's a sure bet the general contractor did to line his own pocket.

But don't worry, these condos are not designed or meant to last for more than 30 years so if the actuarial table is in your favor (you die before then) or you palm it off on some other unsuspecting farang before then, you're be ok.

Edited May 13, 2009 by MeetJohnDoe

[Pattaya46]

But not a single grade A beach-front high-rise in the Pattaya area constructed the last few years is in better state either. Northpoint have even bigger problems...

Most important yet are structural problems of NorthShore

But do not forget that before becoming NorthShore this building was a "ghost structure" during about 10 years, with concrete and steel in open salt air with no protection... Not a surprise to have now problems in this "already 15 years old" NorthShore...

[Guderian]

But don't worry, these condos are not designed or meant to last for more than 30 years so if the actuarial table is in your favor (you die before then) or you palm it off on some other unsuspecting farang before then, you're be ok.

If I can be permitted a slight thread fork, that's an interesting point. One of the standard arguments in the never-ending "house-versus-condo" debates is that you can only get a maximum 30 year lease on the land a house is built on (with some vague possibility of being able to extend this), whereas in the bright, shiny world of condos, you actually *own* your unit in perpetuum. Last year there was an article in one of the newspapers rehashing the "house-versus-condo" debate, and the writer stated that condos (I think he said something like "in the tropics", but I'm not sure) are only designed to last around 40 years, so if you buy a unit in an older building, you may actually be worse off in terms of the "life expectancy" of your investment than if you had bought a house with a 30 year lease.

I got to thinking that 40 years doesn't sound like an awfully long time, but it does seem to tally with the lifespan of most of the awful high-rise developments in the UK in the 1960's. Almost all of these have now been demolished, often I believe for reasons of structural integrity. I would guess that the standard of construction of those was about the same as (or even better than – they often used pre-stressed reinforcement, for example) the rather shoddy workmanship that I have witnessed in Pattaya and Jomtien over the years. So I find myself wondering why an 18 year old building like Jomtien Complex Condotel should be expected to last more than another 20 years or so? Will they be demolishing La Royale Beach in 2050? And as for Northshore, well the period when it stood as a skeleton must surely count towards the life span of the building, so that investors should perhaps anticipate no more than 30 years left before this project also has to come down. Do people take these things into consideration when they are buying a condo?

Any thoughts on the suggested 40 year life expectancy for condos in Pattaya? Are there any high rises in Thailand dating from the 1960's that are still in good shape? There are plenty of skyscrapers in New York, for example, that are 80 years old or thereabouts (the Empire State Building was completed in 1931, for example), so why would the life expectancy in the tropics (and the UK???) be so short?

[MeetJohnDoe]

But not a single grade A beach-front high-rise in the Pattaya area constructed the last few years is in better state either. Northpoint have even bigger problems...

Most important yet are structural problems of NorthShore...

But do not forget that before becoming NorthShore this building was a "ghost structure" during about 10 years, with concrete and steel in open salt air with no protection... Not a surprise to have now problems in this "already 15 years old" NorthShore...

Don't tell this to all the 2-week millionaires who came to the new "Monoco" of SE Asia on holiday and saw what looked like a great building right on the beach. This bit of history is only to be know by the developers (Raimon...which itself is now facing bankruptcy) and us old-timers who remember seeing the old steel and concrete half-completed shell of a building sitting in the Pattaya rain, sunshine, and salt-air "aging" for a decade before Raimon bought the carcass from the banks and finished it off.

And unlike wines, "aged" builidngs don't get better the longer they are exposed to the tropical elements.

Edited May 14, 2009 by MeetJohnDoe

[MeetJohnDoe]

. Do people take these things into consideration when they are buying a condo?

No...the only thing on most buyer's minds during the purchase of a condo in Pattaya is the thought of 5 barfined chrome-pole molesters back at their new condo molesting their own pole.

Any thoughts on the suggested 40 year life expectancy for condos in Pattaya? Are there any high rises in Thailand dating from the 1960's that are still in good shape?

Try finding one built 5-10 years ago that is still in good shape! Shoddy initial construction, tropical weather conditions, little or no ongoing maintenance, bugs and rodents eating away at the electricals and other building innards, with all this, you'll be lucky to get that 30-40 years.

Just consider it a lease-hold of 30 years and make your purchase offer accordingly.

[Wonderboy]

I just get a kick out of the people who buy these turd condos in turd neighborhoods in Turd-World countries for ridiculous prices.... Etc, bla, bla, bla

Oh my godness. Where are all these bitter, grumpy men at Thai Visa coming from? Did something at La Royale piss you off in particular, or do you like to dump on condos around Pattaya in general?

Good luck with your house. I dont mind if you are happy with it...

WB

[stuffonsticks]

Im sure that it is finished already. That will be as far as it goes. Ive cycled past there too over the last couple of years and heard all the stories about the colapse in management. Just like the rest of the new builds in Pattaya and Jomtien they are trying to market as (luxury) common word in Pattaya now they have abandoned it due to money and it will never be finished.

I feel for the people honestly and hope all works out well.