Ideas 1606 Co is planning a 440-million-baht project at Cha-am with the heaviest price tag for residential units that the resort has ever seen.
The Veyla Cha-am Residences will have four pool villas sized 182-193 square wah with a usable area of 420-455 sq metres. Unit prices will be 54-59 million baht, the highest ever for residential units in Cha-am.
The property developer, owned by the Sophonpanich family, aims to launch Veyla Cha-am Residences next January.
Four pool villas with a unit price of between 54 million and 59 million baht will be the most expensive houses ever sold in Cha-am, said the company.
On a plot of nearly four rai near Hotel De La Paix in Cha-am, the villas will each provide a usable area of 420-455 square metres.
Prapavadee: Prime plots in short supply
In addition, two four-storey buildings will offer 14 condo units, each sized 148-210 sq m and priced at 12-17 million baht, or 78,000-98,000 baht per sq m.
Rooftop solar panels across 500 sq m will generate 75 kW for lighting in common areas and a solar pump for the swimming pool.
Prime plots with a sea view or beach locations are in short supply, unlike land in mountain destinations such as Khao Yai, said managing director Prapavadee Sophonpanich.
"The Hua Hin and Cha-am property market has shown signs of oversupply with sluggish sales since early in the year due to a large number of mass product units entering the market," she said. "These units are small with no sea view or beachfront area."
Veyla Cha-am Residences is Ideas 1606's second project, following the 360-million-baht Veyla Khao Tao Residences, which sold out in three months after their launch in 2009.
"We've learned from the first project that we should join Bangkok Bank [one of the family's businesses] to offer home loan packages to customers," she said.
One-third of buyers at the previous project used BBL loans, while the rest paid cash.
On the new project, Ideas 1606 and BBL will offer an 80% mortgage, at 0.5% interest in the first year and minimum lending rate (MLR) minus 5.5% in a second and third year, or an average interest of 4.1-4.3% throughout the first three years.
Ideas 1606 has also bought a four-rai plot near Khao Tao Reservoir, where it plans to develop houses suited to outdoor activities.
Established in 2008 with a registered capital of 20 million baht, Ideas 1606 is wholly owned by Mrs Prapavadee and her husband, Chone, president of SET-listed Bangkok Life Assurance Plc.
Mrs Prapavadee, 39, is also an executive director of the Sophonpanich family's Palang Sophon Limited, an exploration firm with a turnover of 4 billion baht.
"Energy and property are similar for investment as both are project-based businesses," she said.
"Return on investment is quite similar but the property business has high competition and more variables. Energy is a long-term business with higher risks."
Mrs Prapavadee was a founder of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store Bangkok (The Met Store), a museum gift and reproductions shop.
She graduated in 1996 from Columbia University, USA, with a master's degree in international finance and banking.