We've picked up a story about the Allure Properties Diamond Fund which is an alternative lifestyle fund aimed at luxury residences.
Reading through the collateral the fund is looking to acquire a minimum of six properties in locations ranging from Phuket, London, Queenstown, Fiji, the South of France and Colorado.
Looking at the details it's a closed ended fund for eight years with a termination based proceed distribution on sale.
In more simple terms the fund is hedging on a powerful Australian currency and favorable market conditions to hopefully buy low and sell high.
Usage is a perk with 14 days annually and at other times the properties would be rented out. Supposedly this would cover fund management and carrying costs.
The promoter of the fund is Australian Jo Perrott who's father Michael is a well known entrepreneur.
It's the intention of the fund to raise USD20 million with units priced at USD250,000.
There are numerous reports in the Australian business press about the Perrott family and both successful and challenged investment vehicles.
Looking at the fund collateral online, photos of a generic west coast ocean villa are shown.
We are seeing a sharp rise in equity and alternative investments on the island again after a period of inactivity triggered by the GFC a few years ago.
The destination resort Laguna Lang Co Vietnam will open its first phase by mid 2012.
An 113 unit Angsana branded condo hotel will be the initial offering.
This will be followed by the Nick Faldo designed 18 hole championship golf course.
Banyan Tree's 129 unit luxury pool villa resort will start selling units shortly.
For the Angsana, a 6% guaranteed return for six years, with 60 days annual usage is the lead in.
An intial investment of USD200 million has been injected into the project.
Eventually the Banyan Tree developed mixed use development similar to Laguna Phuket will have over 2,000 keys.
Condohotels continue to be a developing at an increased pace all over Asia.
In Pattaya, Thai hospitality group Centara have joined with the Tulip Group on a new offering.
The beachfront Centara Grand Residences have come to the sales market with a pricing point starting at THB5 million.
Unit configurations range from one up to four bedroom unit and penthouses.
Marketing for the project is under leading brokerage CBRE Thailand.
Standard Chartered Bangkok Thailand is forecasting the appreciation of the US dollar against the Thai baht up to THB32.5 in the first quarter of 2012.
Financial uncertainty in the Eurozone have been cited as a critical factor.
Domestically Thailand looks set to take a heavy hit in 2012 with the negative impact to GDP from the flooding and ensuing damage to industrial output.
In an economy heavily leveraged on exports, the outlook for the sector remains cloudy.
Another pressure point looks to be the tightening of bank debt by local banks which would substantially impair the property and hospitality sectors.
As the year winds down, it's time to look at the people putting their footprints in the sand and actively participating in the island's future.
One of those is Richard Pope. the developer of Kata Rocks.
Aside from a string of international awards and high quality promotions was the backing of the film Phuket Future – Luxury Living.
The video by Red Sky Vision is burst of energy into the property market and certainly more positive statements like this help raise the impression of Brand Phuket.
Richard and his glamorous team in Kata continue to add value to the business environment and certainly take a longer term view towards investing money to make money.
To see the film <link>http://youtu.be/F9GSfW0dCHo*CLICK</link>
Recent media activity, press releases and a visit to the Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha by the UAE based developers of a new 134 unit luxury residential project in Ao Po has been widely covered.
An investment of USD20 million has been mentioned by the joint venture Middle East team of Asset Allocation Advisors (AAA) and Tasweek Real Estate Development.
The project is located south of the Ao Po Pier and Tawan Views project, off a side ride along the cliff. Units will be comprised of one up to three bedroom suites and pool villas.
Looking at the press releases issued by the development team there is mention that AAA has an investment in Bali. Based on our market knowledge this project is the Outrigger Panorama project in Bukid which has yet to start construction and have been 'on hold' for a number of years.
According to Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website the location and plan for the Ao Po resort is shown –
<link>http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2645.php?id=28543*CLICK</link>
One point of confusion in the marketing releases is the reference to the luxury Jumeirah hotels group from Dubai and proximity to the resort. It's important to note that the Jumeriah group has no financial investment into the project and in fact the development has been stalled for over two years.
While the east coast area of Ao Po continues to be touted as an up and coming location, it was hit hard during the global financial crises. It's primary attraction has been to overseas buyers which remains a challenged market segment.
Though much to its credit in the area, the Thai based investors building the Ao Po Grand Marina have executed a key demand generator for the area.
We also understand that a longstanding legal dispute by parties involved in the Barama Bay (Jumeirah Private Island Project) are coming to some form of resolution; the market dynamics of new developments looking to fund projects through unit sales remains financially cloudy.
It's a positive to see overseas investors return to Phuket for large quality projects but also a reality check needs to be taken that adequate capital investment needs to be on hand versus the presale model which has resulted in heartbreak for countless developers and unit buyers here over the past five years.
As the island's property boom peaked and then slowed to a snail's pace during the global financial crisis, off plan sales hit the endangered species list.
In Karon development team at Eden Oasis made a strategic decision to build out the second phase of their project prior to launching sales. A first phase of 14 units have already been sold out.
Now 11 fully finished one and two bedroom units along with duplexes have come into the market. Pricing ranges from THB4.9 up to THB8.2 million.
The project overlooks the upscale Moevenpick Resort and Spa.
Speaking to other developers of resort grade condos like Kamala Falls, Lofts at Laguna and Bluepoint they have adopted similar tactics and accept that financial risk of part of the property business.
On the heels of a early November Hong Kong road show the W Residences in Koh Samui have seen four beachfront units sell or be reserved within the past six weeks.
A key strategy by the developer came in the reconfiguration of larger villas into two and three bedroom units priced from THB65 million (over USD2 million).
With a product debut at the trendy W hotel in Hong Kong, an exhibition was held in conjunction with the Engel and Volkers agency.
From our talk with the project's Director of Sales and Marketing Richard Skene the catalyst driving the surging interest has been on the lifestyle investment potential of the units versus end usage.
Coupled into the equation has been the market penetration of the resort into the island's accommodation market and strong new high profile entries from the likes of Conrad, Le Meridien and shortly InterContinental.
Plans at the residences Phase 3 are currently being reviewed with the emphasis on more 2/3 bedroom properties are similar pricing points.
This evening at Royal Phuket Marina the filmmakers of a new movie "Phuket: Luxury Living" are screening the which was produced by Red Sky Vision from London.
Based on a storyline that follows the evolution of the islands property sector. Featured are contributors such as Gulu Lalvani, Mom Tri, Allan Zeman and C9 Hotelworks Bill Barnett.
The official screening is set for 6:00 pm with launch of the online site just after www.PhuketFuture.com
For those interested in the real estate investment sector in Phuket, check out the website from Monday evening onwards
