Banyan Group targets $1B luxury residential projects in Phuket, enhancing Laguna Phuket and Laguna Lakelands with high-spec villas and apartments.
Banyan Group Residences has announced plans to develop a further US$1bn worth of luxury residential real estate in Phuket over the next two to three years, as demand for quality homes on the island remains high from diverse international markets. Over the next 5-10 years this could extend to US$4.5bn or more.
Banyan Group, led by Singaporean entrepreneur Ho Kwong Ping (KP Ho), is famous for its pioneering Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts luxury hospitality brand which just celebrated its 30th anniversary as well for being a strong driving force in the development of Phuket as a tourism destination.
Its iconic 3.5 sq km Laguna Phuket integrated resort now draws over 1 million visitors a year and comprises 8 world-class hotels and resorts, an award-winning golf-course, shops, spas and medical facilities and even its own international pre-school kindergarten – in addition to 3,000 private homes.
As Phuket has continued to evolve as an attractive lifestyle destination, it has drawn increasing interest as a place to acquire a holiday home or even to settle permanently, and so the Banyan Group has seen a surge in demand for private residences on the island.
In addition to Laguna Phuket, the company also announced another ambitious development earlier this year; Laguna Lakelands, a one square km site of lush jungle and scenic lagoons connected by 15km of nature trails adjacent to Laguna Phuket. This will eventually be home to another 5,000 or so private residences.
As Banyan Group has seen the sales of its private residences in Phuket soar since the end of the COVID slowdown, the company is launching 8 new residential projects within both Laguna Phuket and Laguna Lakelands in 2024 – with a total development value of USD$425million. These include Lakeview Residences and Skypark Elara Residences at Laguna Lakelands, as well as some prime beachfront projects within Laguna Phuket such as Garrya Residences Phuket, Beach Terraces at Laguna Phuket and Laguna Beach Residences Bayside.
The Group expects to release further projects worth over USD$1bn in the next 2-3 years.
“We’re seeing a huge demand for new homes in Phuket due to a whole range of factors from trends such as urban flight, work from home, geopolitical issues and simply the fact that Phuket has become a great place to live with world-class international schools and hospitals and all the benefits of a year-round tropical lifestyle,” said Banyan Group founder and Executive Chairman KP Ho.
“High-quality property is still significantly cheaper in Phuket than in most of the buyer source markets like Hong Kong, Singapore or Europe, which is also an important factor,” he said.
Phuket’s strategic location within 5 or 6 hours flight of over 40% of the world’s population, its attractive year round climate and the growing world-class international schools and hospitals are also part of its growing attraction.
There is still plenty of room for more growth, according to Banyan Group. Up to 2024, a total of around 3,000 residential units have been built in Laguna Phuket, with another 700 now under development. A further 10,000 units are eventually envisaged for Laguna Phuket and Laguna Lakelands over the next 5-10 years. This means that only about 25% of the number of units eventually planned are already built.
“Our new strategy is to focus solely on quality high spec residences, regardless of their size,” says Stuart Reading, Group MD of Banyan Group Residences. “It’s a bit like when you buy a car from a luxury car brand like BMW or Mercedes, even if you are buying a smaller vehicle you know that the quality and craftsmanship is still on the same level as the top of the range models.”
Mr. Reading says the group will develop larger branded apartments and penthouses in some of Laguna Phuket’s prime beachfront sites, some possibly measuring up to 500 or even 700 sq m in size.
“Scarcity of beachfront land especially on the prestigious central west coast where we’re located means we can look to create luxury living through spacious and high-spec apartments with private terrace or rooftop pools rather than land-intensive single villas,” he explains.
At the same time, Banyan Group will build lower entry price, smaller but still high specification condominiums in Laguna Lakelands, and other sites within Phuket Laguna that are further from the beach.
Not surprisingly, the recent growth in demand for luxury homes in Phuket has seen other developers enter the market too. But Banyan Group remains the largest and best equipped to provide the full range of professional property management services and indeed lifestyle services that home buyers need. It is also the only developer that has up to now been able to provide developer financing for buyers, allowing them to defer payments for up to 5 years.
Banyan Group recently announced a new initiative The Laguna Advantage, which offers a full suite of services designed to make living in Phuket easier for new home owners. They range from complimentary first year management services and property insurance to healthcare and education privileges such as complimentary first year enrolment at Laguna Phuket’s award-winning onsite pre-school SILK Kindergarten and special rates at Phuket’s leading international schools.
In fact, one of the things that sets Banyan Group apart as a developer is its long-term focus on building community – not just building real estate. By acquiring property at Laguna Phuket or Laguna Lakelands, owners become part of this community.
In Laguna Lakelands, he goes a step further by bringing some of the community benefits to non-residents too. Laguna Lakelands will have the first Community Centre in Phuket providing sports and recreation facilities to non-residents as well as residents. The nature trails within Laguna Lakelands will also be open to the public, in a bold move which breaks down the traditional “gated community” approach to development. Mr. Ho calls this “social sustainability” and believes if successful it could provide a new model for more socially integrated private residential developments in the future.
George is the News Feed Manager, Content Creator, and Social Media Manager at the TravelDailyNews network of online newspapers. At the same time, he is completing his studies in the Department of Business Administration at the Athens University of Economics and Business.
