Property firm Estate Guru Co, run by a former financier at JPMorgan Chase & Co in the US, plans to launch four new projects worth a combined 1 billion baht next year.
The Wizdom project will comprise 73 townhouses priced at 1.69 million baht to 2.45 million baht.
The company will also launch a project on a 7-rai site on Soi Petchkasem 53 this year, said chief executive Nat Manasomjit, who resigned from JPMorgan Chase New York in the third quarter last year to join his family's property business.
He said construction of the Blue Line had increased land prices on Phetkasem Road from 90,000-100,000 baht per square wah, stable for many years, to 150,000-230,000 baht after mass transit construction started.
The project, Wizdom, worth 150 million baht, will comprise 73 townhouses priced at 1.69 million baht to 2.45 million baht. Its targeted net margin will be 20%.
Nat: Location crucial to property success
While shophouses generate higher net margins as high as 35% and are easy to develop and sell, finding suitable plots is much more difficult, he said.
"I left my job, where I was responsible for private funds and mutual funds, to come back to run my family's business despite the fact the US economy has passed the bottom and is picking up," said Mr Nat, 27, who had stayed in the US for more than a decade to study and work.
His parents have developed shophouses and townhouses and own apartments for rent in Bearing, Samut Prakan, Ratchadaphisek, Rama V Road, Bang Kruai and Bang Bua Thong as part of nine projects since 2004.
His eldest brother has also diversified to condominium development under the Origin Condo brand.
Mr Nat, the third son, has been assigned to focus on townhouses.
"To be successful in the property business, you need to find just the right location, while the other factors are uncontrollable," he said.
He believes the property market has room for growth as home ownership in Greater Bangkok remains low.
Unlike other large developers that use prefabrication, Estate Guru will use red brick to build townhouses as that will allow owners to build extensions.
Next year it plans to develop four projects worth a combined 1 billion baht on Rama II Road after conducting an in-depth market study in the Rat Burana and Pracha Uthit Road areas.
Mr Nat is also in talks with a Singaporean private fund about a joint venture for a townhouse development in the Ram Intra area. The fund has invested in condominiums in Singapore and is looking for new investments, while Mr Nat needs its know-how for pushing for a listing on the stock market.