SET-listed Central Pattana Plc (CPN), a property and retail developer, plans to focus on extending its mixed-use portfolio by opening three new projects in the second half this year and 2022.
The expansion is projected to happen in parallel with a recovery of Thailand's 3.6-trillion-baht retail business.
Wallaya Chirathivat, CPN's deputy chief executive, said the company wants to open fully integrated mixed-use complexes in cities with high economic potential, including Ayutthaya, Sri Racha in Chon Buri and Chanthaburi, which are scheduled to open in September 2021, October 2021 and the second quarter of 2022, respectively.
The total investment of 13.9 billion baht increases the tally of Central malls in Thailand to 36.
"We continue to invest because a crisis always plants a seed of investment opportunity. CPN invests for the long term and expects the retail market will recover next year, following mass vaccination this year. Foreign tourists are likely to return to Thailand in the fourth quarter," said Ms Wallaya.
Chanavat Uahwatanasakul, CPN's chief development officer, said Central Ayutthaya was developed on a 47-rai plot with an investment of 6.2 billion baht. It comprises a gross floor area of 68,000 square metres, including a convention hall, a 180-room hotel and 400 residential units.
The company has invested 4.2 billion baht to develop Central Si Racha mixed-use project on a 27-rai plot. The complex has a gross floor area of 71,000 sq m that will be used for serviced apartments, a convention hall, offices and a 180-room hotel.
The Central Chanthaburi project, valued at 3.5 billion baht on a 46-rai plot, consists of a retail complex with a gross floor area of 42,600 sq m, a local market, 247 residential units and a 158-room hotel.
"There are gaps in the retail market waiting to be filled in these three cities. Every Central Pattana project is a milestone that enhances the prosperity and potential of those cities or provinces," said Mr Chanavat.
Nattakit Tangpoonsinthana, CPN's executive vice-president of marketing, said Central Ayutthaya has potential because the residents there are a younger generation with high purchasing power. About 180,000 people shop around Bangkok's outskirts six times a month on average.
There are more than 2.5 million people in nearby areas and a non-registered population of 166,000 people at the top five industrial estates, he said. The province hosts 56 leading real estate projects.
"Central Ayutthaya will help complete the tourism ecosystem in Ayutthaya, which has a similar city model to Kyoto -- a unique world heritage with rich history," said Mr Nattakit.
The Central Si Racha project can tap high-income earners as it is surrounded by 61,000 units of top residential property brands, hotels, schools, hospitals and 11 industrial estates, he said. Of the population of 580,000, some 40,000 are Japanese and other foreign residents.