SET-listed Noble Development Plc is partnering with Hong Kong-based property investment group Hongkong Land Ltd to develop a luxury condominium on Wireless Road and capitalise on the latter's new mixed-use project at the old British embassy site.
Thongchai Busrapan, Noble's chairman and co-CEO, said the joint venture condo will have unit prices above 300,000 baht per square metre and launch in mid-2020.
"Partnering with Hongkong Land will add to the project's value and draw a new customer base," he said. "Hongkong Land looked for residential development on Wireless Road because its mixed-use project will be commercial."
Hongkong Land's mixed-use development will be a joint venture with Central Pattana Plc (CPN). The project will occupy a 23-rai plot on Wireless Road, the British embassy's last piece on the road before selling the land for £420 million in January 2018.
Scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2020, the project will include a new phase of nearby Central Embassy with offices and a luxury hotel.
Hongkong Land has been bullish on the Bangkok property market in recent years. It returned to the sector in 2017 with a joint venture condo on Sukhumvit Soi 36 with SET-listed Singha Estate.
Hongkong Land's first investment in Bangkok property was in 2001. It spent 200 million baht on a joint venture with Gaysorn Property to refurbish Gaysorn Plaza, which reopened in 2003.
Sixteen years later the firm resumed investment in Bangkok, starting with the Sukhumvit Soi 36 property with Singha Estate before splashing out on investments with CPN, Property Perfect and Noble during 2018-20.
Despite various partners, all projects are in the luxury or super-luxury segment in which Hongkong Land has expertise.
"The world of a new generation [of partnerships] is multiple worlds," Mr Thongchai said. "We don't need to have joint ventures with a single partner, but we consider project by project and see who can add value to that project."
Noble is in talks with overseas partners on joint ventures for future projects, he said.
Noble this week said it plans to set up two joint venture firms, HKL Noble Holding Co and HKL Noble Wireless Co, this month to develop a luxury condominium on Wireless Road.
HKL Noble Holding will be 51% held by Noble and 49% by Hongkong Land subsidiary HKL Thai Development Co. HKL Noble Wireless will be 51% held by HKL Noble Holding and 49% by HKL Thai Development. Both will have registered capital of 100,000 baht each.
NOBLE shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 28 baht, up 1.75 baht, in trade worth 1.13 billion baht.