Here I am today, in The Riviera Group’s Latest Showroom ‘Malibu’ located on Jomtien 2nd Road next to The Riviera Ocean Drive. I’ve been wandering around for a few minutes enjoying this new showroom with no distractions, just me and my thoughts. Having visited (I think) all of their showrooms to date over the years, it’s fair to say they were all unique in their own ways. Some huge, some more modest, but all with one thing in common, they were all undeniably ‘Riviera’. It’s that Luxury, Elegant Property Brand now established locally here as Pattaya’s answer to Sansiri in Bangkok. Ahead of their time, pretty much each and every time, it’s almost poetic that they opened the showroom when they reached over 80% of sales. Yes, that’s right, that’s exactly what they did.
Winston and Sukanya Gale, Owners of the Riviera Group soon turn up and we started to chat about the journey of Malibu with all its ups and large downs.
REm: Wasn’t this meant to be a half hotel-half condo originally?
WG: Well yes, until the government decided to change the law prohibiting the co-existing operation of hotels and residences in one building from that date onwards.
REm: As I remember, you had to have a change of design and a slight upset in the market?
SG: True, but Winston redesigned everything so that it was even better for the condominium owners than the original design, then we had, let’s say, a 2nd launch.
WG: It was a painful moment in time for us. On the one hand, we had some angry Real Estate agents and buyers, some threatening and of course some that understood it wasn’t our fault and a situation that was out of our control. A real mixed bag of reactions. That said, it was still a difficult time and it showed who was reliable and loyal to us and who was not – one of those moments that test people’s loyalties that can occasionally happen in your lives – that was one of ours. We don’t plan to experience that ever again.
REm: You’ve never had as far as I know anything like that happen before so what was different this time?
WG: Simple really, normally we apply for a standard EIA application – no issues, nothing complicated. But this time, we tried to combine a hotel and a condominium which at the time, was not illegal but acceptable if you planned the building correctly, which we did. Then the law changed overnight.
98% SOLD OUT
REm: Did many drop out from the original launch as things changed?
SG: Yes, about 50% did, we had sold about 40% in the launch so ended up back at around 20% sold. I think it was a panic reaction from many buyers who dropped out, the patient buyers ended up with an even better product in the end.
REm: Funny that this showroom opened when you were apparently over 80% sold, what sales do you have now?
WG: We are at 98% now with 6 units left only. It’s actually been the most successful project we have done to date by sales.
REm: 98%…amazing, what stage is the construction at now?
WG: Today we are working on reaching up to the 7th and 8th floors. All things going well, construction is on time.
REm: At only 30 floors, this is a slightly smaller build for you guys, does this help generally speaking?
WG: It’s not really any smaller, it’s still 30,000 sq.m buildable, it’s just an ‘L’ shaped building so the floor foot print is bigger than say Monaco or Ocean Drive making the maximum we are allowed to build the height that it is.
REm: I hear there are a few new projects under the Riviera radar, is this true and if so, can you share with us any details.
SG: We have a High-Rise Project in Jomtien possibly coming soon, but we can’t really say more than that.
REm: Will this be ready for launch for this high-season coming?
WG: Possibly, like Sukanya said, let’s see, we just can’t say for now but soon as we know, you’ll know. We also have a High-Rise Project in Wongamat that will be the Riviera Group’s Finest, but we have to wait until 2025 for that.
REm: All very interesting. I’d like to dig more but I can tell that’s all you’re going to tell me. By the way, I’ve not said anything yet about this showroom, but it’s really gorgeous – I’d like one please. It feels very different again to anything you guys have previously done.
SG: The Malibu concept was always a higher-end product than our normal level. For the product and limited units, it felt right to go this route and by the sales today, we obviously did something right.
Right again for sure, The Riviera Group just keeps on going from strength to strength. Eyes wide open then for their new Jomtien High-Rise project coming soon…
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