City centre redevelopment.

Post by **trubrit** » April 10, 2008, 5:34 pm

No more rumour or speculation. It has been officially announced to the press today that the Central group have purchased 40 rai of land in the city centre for a sum of 7,000 million baht. It includes the Chareonsri Grand hotel, the adjoining shopping centre and the land opposite (farang alley). There is no announcement as yet, how it is to be redeveloped, or when, but they confirm the site clearance will start , as from 28th this month. As they were the potential partner for the Udon Centre , near the railway station, this of course almost certainly is the death of that project under its present planned format.

Post by **BobHelm** » April 10, 2008, 6:42 pm

Wow that is certainly some sort of price. Big piece of land though.
Did I imagining it, or is there a road sign when you enter from the Dwang Dang that actually says that the road is private as well??? If so then I guess they could redevelop the site anyway they wanted to...Will be interesting to see what the plans look like when they are published.
Udon centre site -
Agree, hardly a need for another super centre now....
New housing development?? (bit close to the railway station may put the price down) New falang alley??? (That already seems to be Soi Sampantamit)
Anyone any good ideas for it????

Post by **RALPHCUSENS** » April 10, 2008, 7:09 pm

With the parking tto the rear of farang alley bound to go, maybe they could make the railway site a car park!

Because I don't know where we are going to park otherwise!!

Post by **rickfarang** » April 10, 2008, 7:20 pm

That's a lot of cash. figure they get only 4% a year back, rents and other payments would have to total 238 million baht or $7.3 million a month. Something tells me that the price of a Dairy Queen ice cream cone is going up at least another baht.

Post by **BobHelm** » April 10, 2008, 7:21 pm

RALPHCUSENS wrote:maybe they could make the railway site a car park!

The first Thai city "park & ride"

or is that "park & tuk tuk"???

Post by **rickfarang** » April 10, 2008, 7:29 pm

As my wife kindly points out, that is really 23.8 million baht or US$730.000 U.S.

An ice cream at the mall is still going to be a little more expensive.

By the way, this seems to confirm that Central was stymied in their bid to build at the other site near the train station because of some with political power who had interest in the mall, lending credence to the old addage, "If you can't beat them, buy them."

.

Post by **ISSAN_NISSAN** » April 10, 2008, 7:30 pm

I can't get around the 7,000 million baht figure, hard for me to imagine

It converts to about 221 million US dollars.

Hmmmmm.... that didn't help me either.

Now if we talk 500 baht......that I can understand. I wonder why?

Post by **Irish Alan** » April 10, 2008, 7:31 pm

BobHelm wrote:Did I imagining it, or is there a road sign when you enter from the Dwang Dang that actually says that the road is private as well???

Yup it does indeed have that in brackets on the sign (that is these brackets and not the metal ones

)... Is it the Charoen family own the road?

I can just see the threads on here when it is finished. "200 Baht for a coffee - Philippines here I come."

Post by **trubrit** » April 10, 2008, 7:31 pm

RALPHCUSENS wrote:With the parking tto the rear of farang alley bound to go, maybe they could make the railway site a car park!

Because I don't know where we are going to park otherwise!!

The redevelopment plan will naturally take into consideration the parking provision, especially as BH correctly surmises the road down the middle is private and part of the sale. It is proposed that this will be a pedestrianised zone so the parking will be beyond that, but in view of the huge outlay it would be unduly optimistic to think it would be free , as now.

Post by **BobHelm** » April 10, 2008, 7:39 pm

It is proposed that this will be a pedestrianised zone

Oh my God no!!!!!

This is Thailand so it will be a nightmare avoiding m/cs makes it more dangerous than the road is now!!!!

Post by **beer monkey** » April 10, 2008, 9:27 pm

7000 million baht.......wow that is some Valuable deal for someone.

and can't see them selling coffee for 200 baht IA...unless it has cat poop in it of course.

Post by **Jing Jing** » April 10, 2008, 9:44 pm

This isn't Bangkok. It sounds like one landlord replaces another. Robinson's is in the process of upgrading the interior of their store. So I doubt that they have made improvements knowing of redevelopment plans.

The first thing the new landlord needs to find out is can the retail mix inside the mall be upgraded. If the quality of the stores can't be changed what is the point of redeveloping the site.

TIT I will believe it when I see it.

Post by **JimboPSM** » April 11, 2008, 2:49 am

I've looked around on Google and some of the financial press on the internet but cannot find the press release or any other information relating to this transaction - if anyone can find it could they post it or a link to it on this thread.

It is quite possible that the 7,000 million may be some kind of asset valuation and not actually the cash consideration - acquisition and merger reporting often has its own smoke and mirrors

Post by **beer monkey** » April 11, 2008, 4:56 am

Could be on Udondee jimbo, but their website is not working..(at time of posting) www.udondee.com/

or maxudon.com.. http://www.maxudon.com/

Post by **trubrit** » April 11, 2008, 6:10 am

Jing Jing wrote:This isn't Bangkok. It sounds like one landlord replaces another. Robinson's is in the process of upgrading the interior of their store. So I doubt that they have made improvements knowing of redevelopment plans.

The first thing the new landlord needs to find out is can the retail mix inside the mall be upgraded. If the quality of the stores can't be changed what is the point of redeveloping the site.

TIT I will believe it when I see it.

Jing Jing. For info only.Central Pattana Plc, The parent company of Central Group owns the Robinson chain so it is highly unlikely they were not aware of future developments. It is more likely the improvements were made because of them.They also own other retailers already in the existing centre including, Power Buy & Tops. The other department stores controlled by this group include Zen and the Siam Paragon in Bangkok.It might be of interest to know they are also joint partners in Big C along with the Casino group of France.
I am particularly happy as Central have the sole franchise for Marks & Spencer in Thailand.I might at last be able to buy some decent fitting underpants in Udon and Lee will certainly get some good English tea.

Post by **trubrit** » April 11, 2008, 6:29 am

JimboPSM wrote:
It is quite possible that the 7,000 million may be some kind of asset valuation and not actually the cash consideration - acquisition and merger reporting often has its own smoke and mirrors

Jimbo. The release ran into many pages, all in Thai, covering all aspects of the expansion. I merely interpreted the points I thought of most interest to forum members. You could be correct about the 7,000 mill though.The strict translation does say"Have purchased for 7,000"However further on it said,
"The transaction to buy the properties was 3,000 mill and it is estimated to cost in total 7,000mill"
It is interesting to note the group chairman, Khun Kobchai Chirathivat was quoted as saying. "We do not just look to make a profit in a few years"
From a personal viewpoint, I consider this to be a major vote of confidence in the future of Udon Thani as the hub of the entire Issan region.

Post by **JimboPSM** » April 11, 2008, 7:13 am

Trubrit, thanks for info, I had heard rumours about the

Post by **trubrit** » April 11, 2008, 8:30 am

JimboPSM wrote:Trubrit, thanks for info, I had heard rumours about the “purchase” while in Udon and I'm intrigued to find out how the deal was actually put together, what the consideration really was and how it was financed.

So far I have not been able to find any official news releases on the SET website regarding the transaction.

I hope that there will be enough money left to refurbish the Charoensi Grand(?) which has become increasingly shabby over the last few years.

Jimbo. I have picked through it to attempt an answer to your two questions.Firstly finance. The chairman said this is within the 15billion budget set aside for new branch acquisitions in 2008.
Secondly Chareonsri Grand: We are currently negotiating with a major hotel chain who are interested in its developement.
No names just rumours who, but if its true don't expect a room to cost less than 3,00bht a night.

Post by **Jing Jing** » April 11, 2008, 10:15 am

Yes, the investment team is well versed in the Thai market and is a major player. But most major developers would have scraped this site and would have built a new shopping center outside of the city on the ring road. However, this is not Bangkok and what works there may not fair well here.

With an existing structure already in place the first goal would to be upgrade the retail stores from mom and pop venues to national and international brands. In a city replete with à¸¿199 clothing I don't see how an upscale clothing store would survive. How many underpants sales would justify an upscale store?

The Complex has recently filled much of the remaining unused retail space. Still the Complex lacks a second strong anchor store. An interesting addition is the Apple computer store. As a test of Udon's market strength I would like to see how long this store last.

The existing Complex alone needs several million baht in upgrades and improvements. If the owners are serious about improving the property a parking structure and better traffic management are needed to support the existing facility much like the shopping complex in Chiang Mai.

Post by **lee** » April 11, 2008, 11:13 am

I remember Robinson's had a Marks 'n' Sparks section a few years back with a small selection of Rich Tea biscuits etc, but no underpants though! That section didn't last long but the UK’s Body Shop is still there but with a very limited selection of goods.

The shopping complex is certainly looking very tired and in bad need of redevelopment. Oasis Plaza in Khon Kaen just had a facelift and looks more professional, they have a Starbucks on the ground floor and some decent places to eat. The food floor has more selection and looks like it's in the 21st century unlike the 70's style food court in Udon's complex.

I'd like to see some decent Thai restaurants, good coffee shops, clothing stores with farang sizes, gift shops and more IT stores. And then of course decent parking, more seating areas and maybe even a big aquarium with waterfall like Central in Khorat to finish it off.