The SET-listed Sansiri Plc plans to reclaim the leading position in the luxury single house market this year with the launch of four projects under the Narasiri brand.
The Phutthamonthon Sai 1 project will be launched next weekend, with a project design inspired by the works of the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Locations for the Bangkok projects, worth a combined 8 billion baht, will be on Phutthamonthon Sai 1 Road, Rama II Road, Phatthanakan Road and Bang Na district, with prices ranging from 15-100 million baht.
Metha Angwatanapanich, a senior executive vice-president, said these will be among 21 low-rise projects worth a combined 25.2 billion baht to be launched this year.
Of the 21 projects, 13 will be for upscale single houses with a total investment of 22.5 billion baht. The other eight are townhouse projects worth a combined 2.72 billion baht, said Mr Metha, who is responsible for the business development of low-rise properties.
This year, Sansiri targets sales of 18 billion baht from low-rise projects as part of total revenue of 36 billion baht, a rise of about 20% from last year.
Manu Trakulwattanakit, the executive vice-president for product development, said low-rise housing units contributed as much as 14 billion baht to the company's revenue last year.
Sansiri plans to tap the niche market for luxury houses while expanding the market of foreigners living in Thailand.
"We've brought back the Narasiri brand for this high-end product, as we realise the strong market demand," Mr Manu said.
For example, the target customers of the Phutthamonthon project are probably heirs of Chinese tradesmen in the Yaowarat area who have money but do not want to live in busy Chinatown any more and are seeking some place with more greenery and space.
Mr Manu said the design for the Phutthamonthon project was inspired by the works of Frank Lloyd Wright, the American architect whose natural house designs are still admired by architects around the world.
Demand for upscale detached houses in Bang Na is on the increase from foreign and local businessmen, giving Sansiri the confidence to introduce houses as expensive as 100 million baht to the district.
Houses of such luxury are not common in Thailand, so it is difficult to make designs with functions that fully meet the demands of buyers, Mr Manu said.
"We had to travel to Western countries including the US, where we looked at houses in Beverly Hills," he said.
Sansiri plans to launch its Phutthamonthon project next weekend.
The low-rise projects are among 45 residential projects worth 61 billion baht that the company plans to launch this year.
Shares of SIRI closed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Friday at 5.25 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 391 million baht.