How to Build a Condo People Love Living in for 100 Years (Feat. the Strand Bangkok)

What does it take to build a condo that people love living in, that they can pass on to their grandchildren at a higher value? 

In a real estate market like Bangkok, with its fair share of condos that are trendy but show cracks in less than a decade, whose price evaporates once out of style, what should the next generation of developers bring to the table to put Bangkok on the map for exceptional, long lasting condos? 

Tanyatip Cheeravanond very much personifies the future of Thailand. She’s the granddaughter of the country’s most prominent businessman, but instead of focusing on her background, she’d rather the world judge her for her work, more specifically for her flagship condo project, the Strand. 

Completed in 2021 with 30 floors and 188 units, the Strand is not the flashiest condo on Sukhumvit Road, and I was wondering myself how I would present this place. But as I talked to Tanya, I realized. Wow, she really poured all her energy and focus into this project, to a degree that I’ve never seen before, and this is more than just another condo - it’s an honest shot at creating a place that people will love living in for generations to come.     

This is the transcript from the following video:

Perception: Thai condos are of poor quality

With the Thai real estate market, there is this perception, especially among the west, of not being so reliable, the materials not as good, or not as well managed. Do you see this as an obstacle that prevents the real estate market from truly appealing to global buyers? 

I think that's a really interesting question because maybe from a developer's perspective, we see it quite differently. Especially in the luxury segment, our product, the materials and the specifications that we choose to put into the projects are comparable to the likes of the top cities in the world. So we're using the same appliances; we're using the same materials and things like that and that's due to how competitive this market really is. So every developer is trying to put the best product out there at the best price and especially in the luxury segment there is really no compromise because the customers are so educated. 

Both Thai buyers and foreign buyers know what specifications they're looking for in the building. They know what brand of kitchenware you're putting into the project and there's so many other developers to compare with. So I think in that sense it really maintains, for the luxury segment, the high level of quality that's being developed. 

What we're building is something tangible and I think, as a developer, it's our responsibility to build something that really withholds time and maintains its value over time. When I choose a plot of land to develop, I'm very particular on the locations I'm looking for and the kind of product that we can build and who's going to be living here. That's our way of building sustainably. For me personally, by knowing that we're building something that's tangible and it's going to be here for at least the next few decades, it's really important to build something of quality.

Do you see this trend of developing a more long-lasting condo as the opportunity in the Bangkok market right now? 

I sure hope so. I think, for the sake of our skyline and for the sake of the customers who are buying the products as well, I really do think that this is how we should all be developing real estate 

Perception: Thai condos are a sunken investment 

People come here and they see buying a condo as a sunken cost, like they're never going to get out of it just because of issues like the market being over supplied or it could be a bubble and the value depreciates because it's not well constructed. 

So it comes back to choosing the right property to invest in. You're not going to want to invest in a property where there are a thousand of the same type of units. That might be a little bit harder to liquidate; it might be a little bit harder to find a renter for and things like that. But if you're choosing based on location, definitely a project that is in a prime location holds and retains its value no matter what. 

So whether you're looking to make a capital gain by reselling it or you're looking for renters to rent out your unit, I think if it's in a really key location, it has accessibility to transportation, and it's a good quality product then, no matter what, it's always a good investment.

Condo segments that have seen price appreciation 

What segments of the market have prices appreciated and what segments have prices stagnated or fallen? 

It comes back to supply and demand. Any segment that has a big supply will be slower, more stagnant in growth. Any segment that has less supply will always see an increase in value. So if we're looking at a very specific example of condominiums by the river, there are only so many plots of land by the river, so no matter what, those condos will increase in value. Similarly, by the BTS skytrain there are only so many parcels of land that are extremely close or walking distance to the BTS. So those projects, once they've sold out, there'll always be a demand for those kinds of locations.

The Strand is located very close to Thonglor BTS. How has the price appreciation of this project been since its inception?

The price has consistently been going up. During the pandemic, we’ve maintained our pricing because it's also part of our commitment and our relationship with our customers who have bought at pre-sales that we weren't going to drop the pricing. Now that the project is complete and people have been seeing the real thing, they see the location, and they see the value in it. 

In terms of the rentals, the Strand has been extremely successful at renting out its units. All our customers who have bought specifically to rent have been extremely happy and I think this is due to a number of reasons. One is obviously the location and the proximity to the BTS, but also the fact that we have D’ark, the all-day dining restaurant on the ground floor. We have a bar, we're close to some offices. So all of these reasons appeal to the rental market and it's been able to allow us to see growth in value. 

Appeal of Thonglor neighborhood in Bangkok

I think Thonglor is a really cool neighborhood because, traditionally, it was a very residential neighborhood. You've got a lot of old families who have their houses and estates around here and then you see the next generations of those families looking for a place to live in this area. 

So you've got this crowd of old-school residents who've always been around here and they've been able to create kind of a community and a lifestyle in Thongor, but then you've also got a lot of foreigners coming in here as well. You've got a lot of Japanese people, a lot of Europeans who enjoy Thonglor for the F&B and the nightlife that it provides. So in some sense, this street has really become a melting pot. 

That’s where it is now. Where do you see this neighborhood developing in the future?

I honestly think it's going to get better and better. The government has put some special interest in this area. They say the electrical wires will be going down soon and so it'll be more of a walking street. There are plans for a gray line monorail to come through Thonglor as well, so in terms of accessibility, it's also going to get better. 

In terms of the F&B and the nightlife, it's always going to be O.G. around here, like this is where it is. Any cool new bar will pop up around here first and I think as the F&B scene flourishes in Thailand as a whole, we're going to see more and more really interesting gastronomy popping up in Thonglor.

The Strand’s edge over condos in other major cities

You spent a good chunk of your life abroad: raised in Hong Kong and spent a lot of time in the US. What were some design philosophies from the West that you’re bringing to internationalize this condo?

I think the materials that we choose and the aesthetic that we've decided to go with is quite international, but one thing that's quite interesting which Thailand has the benefit of is the luxury of space. The cities that I grew up in: Hong Kong, New York, Philadelphia, land is extremely expensive compared to what we have here in Thailand, so condominiums are much smaller. They're much more compact and there's a bigger focus on how one thing can do multiple things.

Here in Thailand, we have the luxury of space. Our units are more generous, I would say, than what I grew up with in tighter, more compact cities. A with that luxury of space, you're able to create better floor plans so you're better able to space where furniture

goes, how cabinets can fit into an area without sticking out. So in that sense, developing in Thailand was quite different from what I had expected or what I grew up with. 

Maybe we can quickly go down the list of the size of your one bedroom, two bedroom, penthouse, etc.

Our one bedrooms, on average, are about 50 square meters, our two bedrooms are about 90 square meters, and our penthouses which are three bedrooms are 184 square meters, plus or minus five from what I’ve stated. 

You also have much fewer units too, only 188 units here right?

Yes, so for a project that is next to the BTS, I would say that we are smaller in scale but larger in size. We really wanted to make the units livable. We didn't want them to

be so small and therefore not that renter friendly because it would have been really hard to use the space and put in furniture properly. So I think we tried to balance not being too small but also being a size where the pricing will not be too high. 

Who have the buyers been?

Definitely during the pandemic, we saw that it was a real demand kind of market, meaning people who were truly looking to move out of their parents house or people who were ready to purchase a condominium, especially when there were discounts going on, they thought that it was a good opportunity to buy. I think this was part of the reason why the luxury segment has been able to maintain its customer base because they're really tapping on real demand where people are not just buying out of investment purposes but to live in, to have that luxury of space, or to be purchasing it for their children.

Are these buyers mostly foreign or Thai? 

During the pandemic, most of our customers have been Thai. I think that's due to the fact that people weren't able to travel and actually see the product itself. When we're talking about a luxury segment, a lot of our customers want to see the real thing. They don't trust just looking at a brochure or the website, which i think is fair. 

Feedback from buyers

Maybe I'm not too good at marketing but a lot of people say that compared to what they see on the internet or on our website, the real thing is way nicer. I don't know whether it's because it's hard to capture something that is more texture-related, and we don't have a lot of colors. B when you come to the actual project, you can kind of feel the different textures and the heart that's put into the development and the quality that we give.

I can see that because a lot of people are viewing from their phones. Also, this project, at least among the English-speaking crowd, is not as well known as maybe some projects on the riverside.

I think during the pandemic, which was when we're launching the project, we didn't do too much marketing to the foreign buyers because we just knew that it was unrealistic for them to make a purchasing decision of this of this value through the internet. They need to really come see it themselves and that's kind of why we think now is a good time to reach out to those markets and introduce our brand again and invite them to come see for themselves. 

I think people especially love our rooftop. It's got kind of a very resort feel even though we're right smack in the front of Thonglor road and it's very busy down there. But once you get up stairs to the 27th floor, there is this feeling of peace and calm and you kind of just feel like you're somewhere else, that you've been transported or transplanted somewhere else and that was intentional. We wanted to kind of create that divide between being in the city and and also having your own kind of retreat at home up here.

Pleasant surprises from launching this condo

I was really surprised by the low defects that we have in the unit. Everybody warned me in the industry that transferring is the toughest part of the job.  Building it, designing it, all of that is fun and games but when it comes to actually having people come to inspect the units is the biggest challenge because they're going to find all sorts of defects in your unit. 

But we've been extremely lucky and I don't know if it's because I'm so heavily involved in the QC process where we go around inspecting every unit before it goes to the customer and before we lock the doors and then it gets sealed off and we don't touch it anymore. 

So every customer that we’ve transferred the units to, who have come to look at the unit that they purchased, have been extremely happy with the quality and most of the time they just move right in and we don't have to do anything much else to it. 

Why buy a brand new condo?

One comment I get a lot from the audience is “Why buy a new and pricey condo when I can just buy a fixer-upper from second-hand market? So what is the appeal, in your opinion, of buying a brand new condo?

I think the culture of flipping apartments is one that we see a lot in the western world. The issue here is that flipping comes with a lot of headaches because you're working with contractors, you're dealing with designers, and you're doing that all by yourself. It can get a little tricky and it can be time consuming, and at the end, it could cost a lot as well. So in some sense, buying a ready-built or a new condominium provides you with that convenience of being able to just move in right away and, rest assured, that it's of good quality. 

I think the other thing also is that the facilities of a new project are going to be much more comprehensive and well maintained than, say, an older development. This also comes back to what I'm saying where developers were so crazy competitive. It's such a cutthroat industry and everyone's trying to build the best product, everyone's trying to put out the most facilities. I like to call this friendly competition but it really does make us try to do the best that we can and try to have an edge above the others and, at the end of the day, the person who lives here wins. 

True. And my insight into this is that buying a brand new condo is like buying something that only you have owned. It's like your own precious space, a blank canvas that you can put in your own expression, a unique piece in the city that's like truly yours. 

To be honest I feel like that's the case for any first real estate purchase. It's something that you know you've saved money for. With buying a home, there is something so inherently human about it, having a roof over your head for your family and things like that is just so human and to be able to do that with any place, whether it's an old place or a new place, is a really valuable experience. 

How does the Strand make its owners feel at home?

So I think it comes back to why the Strand was built. I actually grew up abroad and I spent most of my life outside of Thailand. And when I came back here, I saw that there was an opportunity to build more than just a condominium, but something that had a sense of community, a place where you can know your neighbors as opposed to just sneak up to your own room, and that's why we have the Strand park in the front and that's why we put the F&Bs and the bars in the building as well because we really did want to curate a place that people felt comfortable to interact with each other. So I think, in one aspect, that's quite unique.

Also the different things we put into the project, we tried to make it both elderly-friendly and children-friendly, and also pet friendly. So we've incorporated a lot of universal design for handicap and things like that in the building. We've also put you know a really fun playroom for the kids, a tutor room if parents need to take a zoom conference or if they want to have their kids take a lesson. Then we put in a putting green like I've mentioned or our gym and things like that. So we've really tried to kind of cater to all demographics to keep it quite universal. 

Also the mood and tone of the materials that we've chosen is neither too flashy, too dark, or too light. It's kind of quite a neutral palette and that's because we see that every homeowner has their own personality and everyone has something to put into their own units. So we want it to really be a blank canvas for you to decorate however you want and rest assured it'll match with the stuff that you're buying. I think that's quite important especially if you want a project that's long-lasting. If i do something that's overly trendy this year maybe five years from now it's going to look a little passe and we don't really want to do that. 

What’s the X factor of the Strand? 

What do you think catches people’s attention that makes them really decide on this place?

It's tough because I intentionally designed this to be subtle. This building is in itself quite quietly confident. We're in an extremely visible location yet we're not really overly flashy about who we are and what we have to offer. Maybe it's just because of how I am

personally and it reflects into the project but i'm hoping that people who pass by or see the building would naturally feel curious to come in and see what's in here because what you see at the surface or you on the front of the street of Thonglor is quite different from from what we have to offer inside. 

Another like insight I've gleaned from this interview right now is this is very personal. This has been your full-time focus, putting in what you've learned throughout the years and your own expression to this place and, like you said, your own QC 

Yeah it's extremely personal to me. Actually starting this company and entering the industry was not because I wanted to make a lot of money or anything but it was because i just love real estate ever since i was little. I grew up in so many places and I moved around in so many houses so a sense of home is extremely important to me and if i'm able to do that as a career then that's amazing. 

So i've really taken that inspiration from my life and my own personal interests and kind of built a career around that and built a product which I think quite reflects the different thoughts and ideas I have for what makes a good home. 

Learn more about the Strand and book a visit here: https://bit.ly/3atjD1H

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