A new concept in living and working is helping a condo tower planned for Phnom Penh's BKK district snap up buyers

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Nice CEO Choi Ji Ho says Studio BKK-1 (above right) is a new concept for Cambodia.

Buyers have already snapped up 40 percent of the units in a new residential tower in Phnom Penh's Boeung Keng Kang district even though it is not expected to be ready until November 2010, the company in charge of sales said.

Choi Ji Ho, the president and chief executive officer of Nice Consulting and Development, said the marketing effort was targeted at middle-class Cambodians and foreigners who were permanent residents in the Kingdom.

Most of the buyers to date were Korean or Cambodian, he said.

The US$10 million Studio BKK-1 tower was being developed by Korean company Gill on a 597.05-square-metre plot on the corner of streets 322 and 57 in Boeung Keng Kang district.

Commonly known as BKK, the central district is bordered by Sihanouk, Norodom, Mao Tse-toung and Monivong boulevards and has traditionally been considered the city's "foreigners' quarter".

Units were on sale for between $90,000 and $280,000, and the developer also

plans to rent units for between $1,200 and $5,000 per month.

The 14-storey building will include 58 units between the fourth and 11th floors and penthouse suites on the top two storeys. The third floor will host a fitness center, the second floor a cafeteria and parking will be underground and on the first floor.

Korean  architects Green Space designed the units according to an "intelligent living" concept in which buyers could live and work in the studio units. Choi said the concept, which was designed to appeal to middle-class buyers, including businesspeople, NGO workers and young newlyweds, was "new for Cambodia".

Some units would be finished in a style described by a Nice salesperson as "officetel", incorporating office space and a living area designed along hotel room lines.

The company would also offer full management services, allowing owners to rent their units as serviced apartments.

The design was a competitive advantage, Choi said. "We want to compete with others in the same business by creating a different style and a different concept. With utilities, good services, good location, better design, security and good prices, we can compete with all our competitors."

Choi dismissed growing concerns over a downturn in property sales in Cambodia in recent months. "I am very interested in doing business in Cambodia because I am confident about political stability, personal security and fast economic growth, and I hope Cambodia will also live up to its potential with oil in the future," he said.

"We want to build more and more homes in Cambodia," he added. "I hope that in the next three to five years the real estate sector in Cambodia will grow more and more."

The developer is also planning a new condominium project for Tuol Kork district and is investigating opportunities in provincial areas, Choi said.