Undisclosed mainland Chinese plan to build what is called a unique triangular condominium block with surrounding flats, as construction increases on Koh Pich

An undisclosed Chinese company is cooperating with Canadia Bank to build a 14-floor triangular-shaped property that will house both condominiums and flats on Diamond Island, or Koh Pich.

Chief executive of the Diamond Condo project, Sophal, who declined to provide his full name, would only reveal that the Chinese company was a mining company and that it was investing in the 14-floor Diamond Condo and in 40 flats surrounding the project. Work has begun on the foundations and on the underground floors.

Sophal added that a completion date had yet to be set, but the project was expected to be finished within three years.

“Sales for the project will be launched in August or September, because we want to show some results first before launching sales,” said Sophal, adding: “It’s different from companies that use their brand names to pre-sell their projects.”

He also declined to put a number on the project’s investment capital.

Chhen Hok, vice-project manager of Diamond Island, confirmed that the company investing in Diamond Condo was Chinese, and that the company had bought 8,700 square metres of the land from the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation (OCIC).

Van Chanthorn, managing director of Town City Real Estate, said the condominium market in Phnom Penh was healthy, and that the new Diamond Condo project had the advantage of a good location. He said he was positive about Diamond Island in general due to the river views, the environment, including cleaner air, and the fact that a mall, a bank, a school and restaurants were sprouting up on the island.

“People living in condominiums tend not to be big families – generally one to two people – and they often travel frequently,” he said. “Families living in condos tend to have one child,” he added.

In Sitha, vice-president of World Trust Estate, said the supply of condominiums had increased along with the number of condominium transactions due to increased interest from foreign investors from countries such as Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and China.

`He added that in order to invest successfully in condominiums, investors needed to concentrate on four points – location, quality of the construction and price, exterior and interior design, and last is access.