The time Singaporean designer Andy Goh joined Ong&Ong Architects 10 years ago as director of the emerging markets. The office he opened was in Myanmar first, and then Thailand and also considered expanding into Cambodia as well as Laos. “Those were the beginning of Myanmar,” Goh relates. “Parkroyal hotel rooms cost just 40 dollars per night. The taxis had holes cut into the flooring so that water could be drained out following an event of flooding. This was almost like the final frontier.”
Lentor Hills Residences Yio Chu Kang mrt is surrounded by an established transport system which includes free-flowing highways.
Goh is currently an actual estate developer and architect. In April of 2019 He was appointed the CEO of Jonah Journeys, an investment holding company which co-founded Furi Corp, a joint venture between the real estate agency in Cambodia, Furi Real Estate which was established in 2012. “If you are looking to get at the highest level on the food pyramid, then you must be the developer,” he says. “Our job as architects has slowly diminished through the decades. We are not only building designers. We are much more than just that.”
He says that Singapore’s urban surroundings today are more due to government policies and not the imagination of architects. “It’s certain that it is not architects who drive the transformation,” says Goh. “That’s the reason why foreign markets give us a more favorable opportunity to grow.”
The worth of money is another aspect as per Goh. For Singapore, $5.3 million to $5.5 million can buy a corner terraced, freehold home at Lorong Biawak, off Upper Serangoon Road or Jambol Walk, off West Coast Highway as per URA Realis in September. “You cannot even purchase an unfreehold semi-detached home located in Singapore with a price of $5 million in the present,” he says. “But you could build an entire 8,000 square meters commercial mall within another town located in Southeast Asia.”
Prefabricated mall in Sihanoukville
Goh made the same mistake in his first attempt as an property developer within Sihanoukville which is a city on the coast located in southwest Cambodia. In the latter half of 2018, he stumbled upon an undeveloped site in the city that was being used for a car park and the landowner was unwilling to let him sell the property since it was located in a prime location. Therefore, Goh decided to sign 50-year lease on the site. He constructed 15,000 square meters (161,460 sq feet) prefabricated shopping mall in just 12 months.
The mall opened the latter part of 2019 and has 60% occupancy. Its tenants are KFC, PizzaCo and Starbucks. Goh together with his group eventually ended in running the mall by themselves. “We did this because tenants wanted us to find employees for their stores and also find accommodation for their staff,” says Goh. “We did more than a professional real estate agency would normally do.”
The mall’s first day of opening shortly after, the Covid disease was averted. In the latter part of 2019 the Cambodian government also shut down illegal online casinos which were particularly prevalent in Sihanoukville.
In the past decade in the past, this Cambodian coastal town also gained of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. Chinese investments resulted in tourism growth of over 700% between 2012 and 2017. According to the official figures, Chinese nationals accounted for more than 100,000, which is 90% of the population of expatriates in Sihanoukville in the year 2019.
Chinese foreign private and direct investments went into the development of real estate as well as casinos and hotels properties. In 2020, as high as 90% of the enterprises in Sihanoukville were owned by Chinese citizens. The lockdown saw casinos, which were not necessary for business, were closed. Around between% to 90% of Chinese expatriates emigrated from Sihanoukville.
Despite “the double triple whammy” that is Covid and the exodus of Chinese foreigners, Goh’s mall lasted. “The locals returned,” he says. “The government has shut down the casinos that were illegal online. The physical casinos are back and have taken steps to clean up their acts.” Its use remains within the 60% area, however it’s in need of an upgrade, as per Goh.
Luxury resort integrated at Koh Rong island
In the past two years, Goh came across a 43ha land parcel that was near Sihanoukville Airport. Sihanoukville Airport and the coastline. The site was acquired for US$197 million as part of an arrangement of 51:49 between Goh as well as an individual landowner from the area.
“We have set aside six hotels for development” the executive says. These include international hospitality companies as well as the ones from Singapore He adds. Goh has also created his own brand of hospitality called R+ that stands for “rare and respectful, as well as reciprocal” Goh says.
“What we’re trying to achieve is to respect the environment which we’re in, and get folks to recognize the place,” he adds. “Part in our mission as an environmental socio-economic and government [ESG] mission is to improve the quality of life for the people living there, not only in terms of job opportunities and economics, but also to increase the value of local food products.”
Ground-up projects include back-to-basics agriculture and the making of bottles from recycled glass, and collaborating with a local school of cooking in a farm-to table concept that uses local ingredients for the restaurants he plans to open in his new R+ resorts. “It’s to find the best partners who share the same values that can join R+,” he says. R+ system,” he adds.
Goh’s main focus is his development plans for R+ Koh Rong, the resort property which is situated on a 30ha steep terrain that is surrounded by lush vegetation at Koh Rong, an island situated just from Sihanoukville. The development will feature cantilevered villas as well as a luxury hotel, a school of hospitality that will provide accommodation for staff along with a cultural and commercial center, a park and farms in the local area which are involved in tech and co-farming ventures.
Once completed the project will have 36 villas scattered across R+ Koh Rong. To minimize the carbon footprintof the project, these villas are constructed elsewhere, and then transported onto the site in flatpacks, then put together. Each module is constructed from steel and measures 31.5 sq meters in size which is more than a shipping container that is 40 feet long.
The smallest space is 31.5 sq meters, the modular units can be combined to make three or two-room homes that range from 90 to 100 square meters. Each room of it is planned as an independent studio, with the larger rooms having the privacy of a pool. The villa’s common areas and amenities include the dining and living spaces and the kitchen.
There are larger containers that naturally ventilated. A few of them can be converted into bathrooms that have bathtubs and are open to the natural world. Some are designed to be traditional bathrooms. “We have been testing various ideas to offer people a variety of the choice,” says Goh.
An ideal balance” between sustainability and luxury
Each villa will include four units with different configurations. “People are looking for a different experience every time traveling,” says Goh. “Even while they desire an authentic and distinctive experience, they also require the conveniences of modern conveniences and pampering.”
Buyers can choose to buy the villas with the strata title as well as a 50-year lease, or leaseback arrangements, which allows the lease to be renewed after 50 years. The villas located at R+ Koh Rong, which come with a strata title as well as lease for 50 years and are priced at US$2.6 millions ($3.7 million) per.
Villa owners be able to place the property within the pool rental of the hotel in order to make a profit should they choose. Each villa’s room will be charged approximately US$400 per night.
Goh is also planning to offer Rand stored value cards to its members in exchange for an annual cost. With the stored-value card members will receive up to 30% discount on hotel rates. Thus, instead of $US400 for a night, they can benefit from a cheaper rate between US$250-$300 per night. The card is also able to be utilized to accumulate points that can be used for the purchase of items, F&B or farm tours.
The first phase of R+ Koh Rong will be the finalization of nine villas. This will be then phase two which will comprise the amenities at the hotel, such as restaurants, a spas and pools. Goh plans opening the first phase by 2023.
There’s no direct flight connecting Singapore towards Sihanoukville. From Phnom Penh, it is just a 2-hour drive along this new road, as compared to five hours on that old highway Goh says. In recent years, the proper infrastructure and roads have been constructed in Sihanoukville Goh adds. “Sihanoukville is also easily accessible for people flying to the city through China or Hong Kong,” he says.
