Emerald Palace Newsletter May 2008
As the sun set over Koh Larn Island on a clear May evening I watched to pouring of the fifth floor cement. The large cement lorries were lined up as a soon as one discharged it contents into the large crane distributing the cement over the floor level another followed, in all there will have been 80 such lorries over the entire evening finishing off at 10 p.m. having started at 4 p.m. The evening was full of shouting and excitement, all eyes directed towards the flow of wet cement onto the new shuttering, the sixth floor columns were being filled with cement and the next stage of the construction is being set in place.
Emerald Palace started from the ground foundations in late November, our progress has been good, we have slipped a little and this will mean delivery of the building to the owners at the end of November rather than September. The main problem being the supply of materials to the site, oil prices have had a big impact on construction costs and the middle men are always trying to obtain new prices for old stock, so delays are inevitable. But the building is coming out of the ground and as you will see from the latest photographs, shown on our website, it’s beginning to look like a condominium at last. I cannot believe the progress we have achieved since the first inception of the main plans.
The weekly planning meetings, held on a Friday morning, are a buzz of activity. The progress being discussed with the contractors and our independent engineers, who oversee the specifications on construction. I am usually at these meetings and although the main language is Thai I have a translation by the boss of the engineers which helps me understand the issues being discussed. It’s very interesting to listen to the technical side of construction and it’s amazing how much planning is required in such a building. Being at the meetings saves everyone time as decisions can be made instantly, problems solves with full discussion and the main points of planning the introduction of contractors on time with the materials to do the work essential to building Emerald and keeping it on track. This building would normally take 18 months to construct; we now look as though we are on track to complete in 13 months. A tribute to the team we have around us.
We have now completed the contracts for the supply of all materials to the development and I can assure you all that I have retained the highest materials for the development, with some pretty stiff opposition from the crew, I want this to be the flag ship of condo developments and as one City Hall Engineer put it to me,” Richard this is the bench mark of the future of construction in Pattaya”. We obtained our building permit in record time and that’s official, all the engineers at City Hall have shown a great interest in our progress, very often coming down to talk to the contractors and examine the building as it progresses.
The show rooms which are on the second floor will be completed in June, we are mocking up a studio and a one bedroom unit. This serves two purposes, it a dummy run for all the suppliers and in turn we can sort out the logistically problems at an early stage, and secondly it gives us an opportunity to be able to display the units in their full splendor. We shall be furnishing both units to complete the units in a living style. We have finally produced a furniture pack which will be attached to this newsletter. So food for thought and you can start to make some decisions regarding your choice. Please do not think this is a take it or leave it process, should you wish to vary the choice by all means let us know. Paul has been working hard at finding a good team of suppliers and they will work with the individual clients to tailor make your unit furniture.
Your contribution has been the very important task of supporting us with your timely installments on your contracts, I am very pleased to be able to tell you that most have been very prompt with the installments and as you all can imagine its essential to all of us that this is maintained.
Within the next few weeks we shall be completing the revenue share pool for all of our investors. The financial recording of income will be achieved via the full hotel accounting software having been purchased for the purposes of full accountability. Our Chief Accountant Mint is running dummy tests on the system now in preparation of installation at Emerald Palace. We shall be recruiting a manager in the next few months, it’s important that the person who is responsible for the entire management of the building come on board at an early stage and to be able to work with the contractors to understand the heart and soul of the building as well as being an administrator responsible for the smooth running of the building.
We do have a number of units still available so if you have friends or family who wish to consider purchasing please let us know. We all understand the economic problems at present and it’s easy to forget about your future investments when times are hard. But please stop and think about this development as a truly sound investment for both own us and retirement investment. Where can you purchase a property of such high standards around the world for as little as 38,000 Sterling?
We will be sending you all a monthly update in the future. One subject which has come to our attention and we await confirmation, is the Thai Government is going to alter the lease period on Condominiums probably this year, this is good news for all of us, it will become a foundation of confident investment in leasehold investments in Thailand, and in my opinion confirm the Thai’s Governments commitment to us overseas investors in their beautiful country.
Richard Haughton