What Happened To Ic Tower?

[Ch23]

Hi,

Just woundering if anyone knows what happened to IC tower? I live around this area with the missus and pass it regularly. It is clearly abandoned but its such a huge building i cant understand why it would have been allowed to get into this state? sure the traffic in this area is nutts but the cost of the building must have been in the millions of dollars.

Here is a link for the building if your woundering what i am on about... IC tower picture . It is just off Ratchada near tesco lotus on the way to DinDeang Rd. The building is around 60 floors and from google earth around 130m long by 30m wide, so pretty huge.

My only thought is that it was never quite finished when the 1990's crash went on and ended up like many of the Ghost buildings you see about BKK. But if anyone actually has an explantation, it would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks

CH23

[Ch23]

ok just had a lil poke around and found a good topic it and explanation. May be my bad as well Because i think it might be the I.E tower or I.C.E tower instead. have found some more good pictures too if anyones interested Ghost building

[arkom]

Used to live in that area and passed by it everyday and also wondered the same thing. From the outside it looks like its finished but not sure about the inside...

[jalansanitwong]

Bangkok used to be full of 'phantom 'skyscrapers particularly after the 1997 crash. There used to be one about 40 storeys high that sat almost on top of a klong on the road out to Pattaya. been there for years. Probably still empty. Even today alot of the office buildings in the downtown area are half or more empty.Rents cost as little as 7500-10,000/m (thai price) on petchaburi road. Drive over the river bridge at sathorn and most of the big hotels windows are dark. either theyre empty or guests like walking around with candles.

They keep on building them. Its like a mushroom field.

[RedFxTrade]

ok just had a lil poke around and found a good topic it and explanation. May be my bad as well Because i think it might be the I.E tower or I.C.E tower instead. have found some more good pictures too if anyones interested Ghost building

There is a great forum on skyscrapercity.com on Thailand, mostly Bangkok about all the going ons within the construction industry, new condos, new roads, urban facilities, etc etc. Great pictures on that site. They have two sticky threads on there called ...you will see them near the top of the link. Great information on this site. You might info on this building on there...or you could sign up and ask them. I never post on there just browse,.

Here is the link to the main Thai forum....

I have often seen these, and passed them quite often...what a huge mis-allocation of capital...

Edited May 25, 2011 by metisdead
Not to post URL links to other forums

[DP25]

I have often seen these, and passed them quite often...what a huge mis-allocation of capital...

They've just started work again on those buildings, after almost 15 years. There is a thread with pics, SV Gardens

[RedFxTrade]

I have often seen these, and passed them quite often...what a huge mis-allocation of capital...

They've just started work again on those buildings, after almost 15 years. There is a thread with pics, SV Gardens

Yeah cheers, I literally just saw that this morning on the skycrapercity forum...good news. Although they were saying the rendering looks like the 90's design. Still better than how they are now.

[sulasno]

ICE Tower is a complicated building; BAM owns the majority of it; can't remember the name of the company who took over all the bad debts (NPL) (and is going to be shut down) and a number of individual owners; the occupancy licence has not been issued yet; can't remember the asking price; was something between 800 to 1000 million baht; it is going to take the same amount to refurnish and complete the building (making it extremely expensive); last I heard was BAM is going to complete the building and put it on the market if it cannot find a buyer. I have a CD showing the floor plan of every floor

[RedFxTrade]

ICE Tower is a complicated building; BAM owns the majority of it; can't remember the name of the company who took over all the bad debts (NPL) (and is going to be shut down) and a number of individual owners; the occupancy licence has not been issued yet; can't remember the asking price; was something between 800 to 1000 million baht; it is going to take the same amount to refurnish and complete the building (making it extremely expensive); last I heard was BAM is going to complete the building and put it on the market if it cannot find a buyer. I have a CD showing the floor plan of every floor

Cool, good info. So what sort of level of condo will it be, or is planned. High end, middle etc?

[sulasno]

I cannot remember the details; it's parking at the basement, 4 or 6 floors of commercial space and the rest is office space

[dddave]

Along the same subject: going to Pattaya on the Expressway, about half way, (Changsongsow?) on the left side is a huge marina style, residential development with townhouses and high rises that appears to be structurally complete but has been sitting there, empty for at least the past six years.

There is a huge powerplant nearby and I've always wondered if that had anything to do with it.

Anybody got the scoop?

[DP25]

Along the same subject: going to Pattaya on the Expressway, about half way, (Changsongsow?) on the left side is a huge marina style, residential development with townhouses and high rises that appears to be structurally complete but has been sitting there, empty for at least the past six years.

There is a huge powerplant nearby and I've always wondered if that had anything to do with it.

Anybody got the scoop?

This place? I took this on the expressway a couple years ago, can't remember exactly where. Looks like it would be a nice place if it were finished.

[dddave]

Along the same subject: going to Pattaya on the Expressway, about half way, (Changsongsow?) on the left side is a huge marina style, residential development with townhouses and high rises that appears to be structurally complete but has been sitting there, empty for at least the past six years.

There is a huge powerplant nearby and I've always wondered if that had anything to do with it.

Anybody got the scoop?

This place? I took this on the expressway a couple years ago, can't remember exactly where. Looks like it would be a nice place if it were finished.

That's it.

[PattayaParent]

It's at Bangpakong and was supposed to be opened as a hotel and condo / marina type place.

It was finished to that state just before the 1997 crash so I'd suppose that had something to do with it not being completed, nothing to do with the power plant as far as I'm aware.

Edit: developers name was Town & Country I think.

Edited May 27, 2011 by PattayaParent

[dddave]

Wow, languishing 15 years, unoccupied.

I once read that rehabbing properties such as this is very difficult because Thai banking laws require banks to recover 75% on the loan value when unloading nonperforming properties. This law is designed to prevent collusion between corrupt bank employees and developers who finance a property, bankrupt it, then buy it back at auction at a greatly reduced cost.

The consequence is that often it is more costly here to rehab a property than it is to build new from scratch.

I wonder if this developments distance from Bangkok is also a problem; close to an hour on the expressway. It would need a very upmarket clientel to support such a place.

[RedFxTrade]

Wow, languishing 15 years, unoccupied.

I once read that rehabbing properties such as this is very difficult because Thai banking laws require banks to recover 75% on the loan value when unloading nonperforming properties. This law is designed to prevent collusion between corrupt bank employees and developers who finance a property, bankrupt it, then buy it back at auction at a greatly reduced cost.

The consequence is that often it is more costly here to rehab a property than it is to build new from scratch.

I wonder if this developments distance from Bangkok is also a problem; close to an hour on the expressway. It would need a very upmarket clientel to support such a place.

I 'd say you could very well be right there Dave. Most of the central buildings in Bangkok that were unfinished have now been taken up and completed...Thats the nature of a mal-investment boom, when everything is going up, then any project probably seems like a good idea, however, when the bust comes to the fore then such projects as this might not seem like such a good idea. I don't know the surrounding area that well, but I m guessing there is not that much around the area such as shopping malls, restaurants, pubs etc...?

Anyway, the video below was an unfinished building on Ratchadapisek Road that was unfinished, I think it was the RS Towers, then they seemed to be finished a few years ago, but I do not know if they were finished inside....but in any case here is what happened....pretty mad...perhaps the owners decided it was not worth finishing in the end and possibly "a security guard fell asleep with a cigarette in his hand"