The New Trio Condominium On Huay Kaew Rd

[Drew Aitch]

The New TRIO Condominium on Huay Kaew Rd

Last week I went to visit the new (still under construction, but partly occupied too) TRIO Condominium building on Huay Kaew Rd. As you pass by it looks impressive, but after viewing 3 different rooms I found it a somewhat grim and soulless building. Part of that will be due to its unoccupied state of course, but the finish was not really what you might call top-notch.

There was bumpy plastering around the outside door frames, i.e. not smooth and tight to the wood, lots or dark pockets in the rooms, and all the condos I viewed were wallpapered. If you happen to like the papering, that's fine, but if not, I would imagine the last thing new owners would want to do is start scraping it off the walls of a 100+ SQM, and replacing it with paper or paints of their choice. Start renovating and redecorating old condos is the norm, but to start wallpaper scrapping on brand new places seems a bit of an unnecessary moving in job to me.

Swimming pool looked tiny and I've seen more impressive ones at 5,000 THB/Mo apartment rental buildings such as the one on the third floor of Baan Thai in Nimmanhaemin Rd Soi 6. Also, being so close to the road, an open window let a fair bit of traffic noise into these rooms too.

Each to their own, and some might find the place a home away from home, and I'm sure it will probably look and feel better once there's a bit of life around the joint, but personally I think there are far better deals to be had around what is becoming Construction Mai.

Aitch

[clinique]

Trio is a very OLD building that was abandoned for many years. and recently taken over and "completed" (well sort of).. the owners seem to think that by taking over an old problem, adding some fresh paint and a few other extras, and then selling at acheap price they will do well........

lets hope the prospective buyers are not that silly !!

[Greenside]

Trio was a renovation, rather than a new building and they're having some difficulty selling sufficient units. I looked at it about a year ago and note that since then they've been offering the apartments decorated as you mention and also put some up for rent. It's not a bad location, though.

The big problem (and one shared with lots of developments) is the commercial units on the ground floor which are up for sale. They're huge and have no chance of attracting any business with the slightest chance of success since there are hardly any residents and no passing traffic - if Hillside 4 can't get tenants, what chance Trio? What amazes me (although it shouldn't by now) is the lack of imagination shown by the developers:

Half empty apartment building with no local shops (hard to sell) + commercial space with no customers (almost impossible to sell or rent) = failing development eating marketing resources and monthly shortfall on service income.

Businesses faced with this dilemma in other countries might twig that the restaurant, convenience store or salon in the lobby is an important amenity and give subsidised or even free rental for a period long enough to get out of the chicken and egg scenario but here they just hang on in there until the bitter end and the units fade into disrepair like the dozens of empty spaces in Hillside 4 and many others that I can think of. It's a crying shame.

[clinique]

have to agree with greenside,, overseas (even in Bkk) most developers would pre-lease the ground floor commercial space to make sure hte building looks good to prospective tenants..

i just repeat my previous comments,, they thought thye could buy it cheap, splash a lick of paint hereand there and sell it cheaper than other places,,, didnt take into account any other factors,,like what the buyers might expect !! TICM ! (this is CM)

[Oneman]

... a somewhat grim and soulless building. ... personally I think there are far better deals to be had ...

The big problem (and one shared with lots of developments) is the commercial units on the ground floor ... have no chance of ... success since there are hardly any residents and no passing traffic ...

That building has been doing a lot of advertising, so those analyzes from "Drew Aitch" and "Greenside" are very useful.

Thank you both for your posts.

-- Oneman

Chiangmai

.

[shepsel]

I looked at the units about a year ago, and was quite disappointed in the finishing, as well as the room layouts. The furnished units were totally unimaginative with cheap unstylish furniture. I would think that if the owners were trying to sell or rent they would at least hire an interior decorator to stage the model units.

As for the commercial space, any mom and pop type of operation going in there would be doomed right from the start. If the owners would think outside of the box and attract a major retailer, for instance Rimping, the building would become a destination for shopping, and if there is any square footage left some nice coffee shops, restaurants, laundry, etc. would have a better percentage survival rate. The residents of the building would prefer having a useful shop at their doorstep, and it might even help renting and selling the units. The downside of getting a successful major retailer to locate there would be the parking situation, but I guess anything could be overcome.

[Drew Aitch]

Anyone looking for accommodation might want to download one of my Home Hunter's check-lists (Quick or Detailed). They're a bit old now, but I think they cover most things with modern day residential requirements. You can also run a highlighter through just those things that are of interest to you personally.

You can find them here: The Home Hunter's Check List

Cheers

Aitch

[Greenside]

have to agree with greenside,, overseas (even in Bkk) most developers would pre-lease the ground floor commercial space to make sure hte building looks good to prospective tenants..

i just repeat my previous comments,, they thought thye could buy it cheap, splash a lick of paint hereand there and sell it cheaper than other places,,, didnt take into account any other factors,,like what the buyers might expect !! TICM ! (this is CM)

To be fair, they've done a whole lot more than just "a lick of paint" but if they got a good deal on the original building they didn't see fit to work it into the pricing in a really meaningful way and now the imminent completion of another three buildings in the area will make things even more difficult.

[invex]

That building was in structural work condition for about 15 years. There were no windows, no doors no painting, no maintenance. Nothing. On Changklan Road, opposite the Empress hotel is a building in the same condition as the "Trio" was. Be careful, under the paintings and other finishing works, hides sometimes a lot of problems.

[clinique]

have to agree with greenside,, overseas (even in Bkk) most developers would pre-lease the ground floor commercial space to make sure hte building looks good to prospective tenants..

i just repeat my previous comments,, they thought thye could buy it cheap, splash a lick of paint hereand there and sell it cheaper than other places,,, didnt take into account any other factors,,like what the buyers might expect !! TICM ! (this is CM)

To be fair, they've done a whole lot more than just "a lick of paint" but if they got a good deal on the original building they didn't see fit to work it into the pricing in a really meaningful way and now the imminent completion of another three buildings in the area will make things even more difficult.

hi greenside, invex got my point,, i didnt mean literally a lick of paint (it was in parenthesis),, wha ti meant was they bought it cheap, finished it cheap and expect to sell it JUST BECAUSE its cheap,, sorry but anyone in the realestate world knows 'that aint how it works"

[Greenside]

have to agree with greenside,, overseas (even in Bkk) most developers would pre-lease the ground floor commercial space to make sure hte building looks good to prospective tenants..

i just repeat my previous comments,, they thought thye could buy it cheap, splash a lick of paint hereand there and sell it cheaper than other places,,, didnt take into account any other factors,,like what the buyers might expect !! TICM ! (this is CM)

To be fair, they've done a whole lot more than just "a lick of paint" but if they got a good deal on the original building they didn't see fit to work it into the pricing in a really meaningful way and now the imminent completion of another three buildings in the area will make things even more difficult.

hi greenside, invex got my point,, i didnt mean literally a lick of paint (it was in parenthesis),, wha ti meant was they bought it cheap, finished it cheap and expect to sell it JUST BECAUSE its cheap,, sorry but anyone in the realestate world knows 'that aint how it works"

I get what you're both saying but my point was that it isn't being sold cheap enough. Anyway, no matter - I'm certainly not interested with the pound at 10 baht or whatever the latest horror figures are.

[clinique]

have to agree with greenside,, overseas (even in Bkk) most developers would pre-lease the ground floor commercial space to make sure hte building looks good to prospective tenants..

i just repeat my previous comments,, they thought thye could buy it cheap, splash a lick of paint hereand there and sell it cheaper than other places,,, didnt take into account any other factors,,like what the buyers might expect !! TICM ! (this is CM)

To be fair, they've done a whole lot more than just "a lick of paint" but if they got a good deal on the original building they didn't see fit to work it into the pricing in a really meaningful way and now the imminent completion of another three buildings in the area will make things even more difficult.

hi greenside, invex got my point,, i didnt mean literally a lick of paint (it was in parenthesis),, wha ti meant was they bought it cheap, finished it cheap and expect to sell it JUST BECAUSE its cheap,, sorry but anyone in the realestate world knows 'that aint how it works"

I get what you're both saying but my point was that it isn't being sold cheap enough. Anyway, no matter - I'm certainly not interested with the pound at 10 baht or whatever the latest horror figures are.

depends how much the borrowed from the bank ?? 100% 120% 150% I guess... TIT !

[midas]

... a somewhat grim and soulless building. ... personally I think there are far better deals to be had ...

The big problem (and one shared with lots of developments) is the commercial units on the ground floor ... have no chance of ... success since there are hardly any residents and no passing traffic ...

That building has been doing a lot of advertising, so those analyzes from "Drew Aitch" and "Greenside" are very useful.

Thank you both for your posts.

-- Oneman

Chiangmai

.

But i think Hillside Condos is even more grim -

[jayjay0]

The OP talked about wall paper. I was told that wall paper was a invitation for mold.

[HowardB]

As the saying goes, each to their own. Late last year my wife and I inspected Trio with the intention of buying. We were led to believe initially that it was a new build but that is obviously not the case once you see them. We were shown a couple of condo's that were "completed" but still needed the finishing touches, such as light switches, taps, lights etc. With a vivid imagination one could see a reasonable apartment but nothing special and certainly not worth the price they are asking even with the free ipad. Views from the top floor condo's were very nice, if you wanted to stand whilst drinking your chang, but once you sat the retaining wall blocked all views.

We ended up buying a condo in Hillside and can only say that we are more than happy with what we ended up with.

Howard