TCC plans to spend B9bn to expand hotel business TCC Land, owned by liquor billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, plans to spend nine billion baht this year to expand its hotel development business and acquire some buildings.
Soammaphat Traisorat, the company’s executive director, said seven billion baht would be invested to develop three new luxury hotels and four low-budget hotels under its own Imm brand.
Among the three five-star hotels, two are in Samui and one in Sukhumvit Soi 24 in Bangkok.
The four low-budget hotels will be located in Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Samui and Sukhumvit Soi 50.
‘‘Demand for budget hotels is strong and we will go with our Imm brand to some major provinces,’’ he said.
The son-in-law of Mr Charoen explained that an Imm hotel would have about 120 rooms and room rates around 700-800 baht per night.
TCC Land has developed a number of luxury hotels including Le Meridien Chiang Mai, Le Meridien Surawong (Bangkok), Banyan Tree Samui and Luxury Collection on Koh Samui.
Apart from the hotel business, TCC Land will spend approximately two billion baht to acquire some buildings. Of the total budget, the first one billion baht will be used to buy Nation Tower in Bang Na while details for another one billion baht have not been disclosed yet. The ownership transfer of Nation Tower is due within this year.
Mr Soammaphat added that TCC Land was also working on a 12,000-rai site in Cha-am, where it would develop a golf course and residential complex. TCC Land will act as the site’s master planner and develop key infrastructure for the project. After that, it would allow foreign developers to lease some of the land and develop their own projects.
In terms of overall strategy, TCC Capital Land, the joint venture between TCC Land and CapitaLand of Singapore, is being very cautious about making new investments everywhere in the world including Thailand.
Chen Liang Pang, the CEO of TCC Capital Land, said the parent firm was concerned about the global economy, which has been slowing down, due mainly to the US sub-prime crisis and rising oil prices.
‘‘2008 is not a good year for investment. Next year will be better and more stable,’’ he said.
But the Thai property market is picking up and will be more bullish than last year due to the better sentiment and tax incentives.
TCC Capital Land, however, would develop only four projects this year, fewer than in a good economic situation when it developed six to eight projects a year. Last year it planned to launch five new projects but launched only two.
After launching North Park Place worth 1.2 billion baht two weeks ago, it plans to launch a luxury condominium with 200 units worth three billion baht in a prime location by the end of the year.
Subsidiary S&S Residential Limited, set up last year, will launch a new project worth 1.8 billion baht by the end of the year. On March 14 it will open sales of S&S Sukhumvit 101/1 with 810 units worth 1.8 billion baht and hopes to close sales by the end of the year.
The subsidiary will focus on the middle-priced segment. Prices will be less than 50,000 baht per square metre for condominiums which will be located within 1.5 kilometres of a mass-transit station.
In the next two years, S&S will develop single houses and townhouses with prices of about one to three million baht a unit, he says.
Currently, most of TCC’s projects have been more than 90% sold. Only Empire Place was 75% sold. It aims to achieve seven billion baht in revenue by the end of 2008 from transfers of units at Athe´ne´e Residences and Empire Place. Last year it posted three billion baht in revenue realisation.
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