Amid a foreign purchasing boom led by Russians, MontAzure has partnered with local developer Botanica Luxury Phuket to develop villas priced 49-170 million baht on Kamala Beach targeting overseas buyers.
Setthaphol Boottho, executive director of MontAzure, said the new project called Botanica MontAzure worth 2.6 billion baht is located on a 30-rai plot, which is one of the last plots in MontAzure, a mixed-use luxury project on Kamala Beach.
"After acquiring the 454-rai plot in 2012, we began the development of MontAzure on this land in 2016, with the aim of becoming a global destination," he said.
"Now the project is very com- prehensive."
The project has 60 rai available for the next phase of Botanica MontAzure, with some plots remaining for future development.
This portion is roughly one-fourth of the total, while the rest was developed either through partnerships, joint ventures or by selling plots to partners, said Mr Setthaphol.
"We entered a joint venture with Botanica Luxury Phuket because they have a strong presence in foreign buyer markets, particularly among Russians," he said.
Attasit Intarachooti, chief executive of Botanica Luxury Phuket, which has developed 20 luxury villa projects worth 10 billion baht in Phuket over the course of 20 years, said Russians are a particularly sturdy foreign market for villas in Phuket.
"The first wave of Russian buyers in the Thai property market happened in major tourist destinations such as Phuket and Pattaya in 2014, before the ruble depreciated," he said.
"The current wave is much larger, either double or triple."
Mr Attasit said foreigners account for 95% of the company's customers, with half of them Russians and some from Europe.
The firm markets to foreign buyers through its own agents and has a dedicated foreign buyer department.
"Russians prefer larger units and almost never negotiate on the price," he said.
"We are planning to expand to emerging markets such as the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern countries."
Botanica MontAzure is scheduled to open next year with 36 pool villas with a usable area of between 800 and 1,000 square metres, priced from 49 to 170 million baht per unit.
"When selling houses to foreigners, we offer them via the leasehold format, with a 30-year lease that can be renewed twice for 30 years each time. This approach is preferred by foreigners," said Mr Attasit.
"We offer the properties at the same price as freehold."
In 2019, MontAzure launched MGallery Residences MontAzure comprising 200 condo units sized from 47-140 sq m and priced from 180,000-200,000 baht per sq m. The property is currently 50% sold.
MontAzure is a joint venture between Thailand's The Narai Group, ARCH Capital from Hong Kong and Philean Capital from Singapore's Pontiac Land Group.
When completed, the project is estimated to be worth 15 billion baht.