Developers broke ground last Sunday on Toul Tompong’s newest latest luxury condominium development.

The Bhumi Emerald condo project, which was conceived by Khemerak Sthapanik Trading and is to be constructed by the Chip Mong Group, is set to include 47 units on 24 floors.

Chhun Khunvirak, executive director of Khemerak Sthapanik Trading, said that the $10 million project should be finished in two years. Emphasis will be placed on residential comfort in the building’s communal spaces.

“The Bhumi Emerald condo will allow four floors for car parking, a swimming pool and gym at floor 15, and an open sky garden on the top roof floor, allowing [residents] to see beautiful views of the city,” he said.

The building, which is to be located at #73 Street 444, will cover 468 square metres and feature four types of rooms ranging from 60 square metres to 160 square metres in size. The largest rooms will feature three bedrooms, while the smallest only one.

Units are set to go on sale in the fourth week of November with prices starting at $100,000 each.

Sear Chailin, chief executive officer of CL Realty, said the Bhumi Emerald project was situated in a good location near Toul Tompong market, which was particularly popular with expatriate residents of the city.

“The sale of the Bhumi Emerald project will gain success due to the good location and its size of only 47 units,” he said.

The only significant disadvantage, said Chailin, was that the building’s low-lying location was prone to flooding during the rainy season. By 2017, he added, the problem would hopefully be eradicated by drainage system improvements.

Dith Channa, general manager of VMC Real Estate Company, said that the condo market in Phnom Penh looked promising for at least the next five years.

Mentalities were shifting, he said, as white-collar Cambodians started to prefer the convenience of a short commute to work from within the city instead of a long drive from the outskirts.

Previously, added Channa, most Phnom Penh residents shunned condos while preferring larger homes outside the city centre. But increasingly dense traffic is starting to change minds.

He said: “The traffic issue made people change their ideas from buying homes on the outskirts to buying homes in the city. For under $100,000, people will have difficulties buying a house in the city, so they will purchase condos.”

Toul Tompong, with its relative calm compared to the city’s denser commercial districts to the north, is proving particularly popular among the new generation of prosperous urbanites.

Channa said: “Tuol Tompong area is now nearly number two in the real estate market after Beoung Keng Kang, for many foreigners reside there. Condo constructions will be successful for projects of under 100 units.”

Condo sales have soared this year largely due to sales to foreigners.

In September, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction revealed that foreigners bought more than 1,305 condominium units in the first six months of the year.

In addition to inner-city condo projects, satellite cities such as Koh Pich, Camko City, Grand Phnom Penh, Chroy Changvar, Decho City and Booyoung are proving popular, the ministry said.