There are brand new, neo-classical mansions. The streets are lined
with trees, water fountains, manicured turf and even playgrounds for
children.
Welcome to Phnom Penh’s suburban dream—gated communities that have
emerged in recent years along main roads out of the city and in other
pockets of affluence.
Some are known as “satellite cities” and others by the Khmer word
Borei, which translates literally as “town center.” They are high-end
estates carrying ostentatious names like “Star Platinum” and “Elite
Town,” and offer a getaway from the bustle of the increasingly congested
downtown area of Phnom Penh.
Among the largest already open is the Grand Phnom Penh International
City, in the former wetlands north of the city. Visitors enter through a
Brandenburg-esque gate, topped with leaping bronze horses. Wide, clean
streets skirt reservoirs, clusters of houses and an 18-hole golf course.
In 2009, when Cambodia became embroiled in the global financial
crisis, housing prices plummeted and work at many of Phnom Penh’s
suburban developments ground to a halt. But the economy is again growing
fast and new property projects on the outskirts of the city are
beginning to show some signs of life.
“I like the environment,” said resident In Channy, who is president
of Acleda Bank and moved into one of the “chateau” model houses at Grand
Phnom Penh International City in Sen Sok district three years ago.
“It’s clean and quiet, and I like gardening.”
Mr. Channy said that, while he doesn’t have time to play golf due to
the pressures of his job as head of the country’s largest bank, he
regularly cycles near his home. Living in Grand Phnom Penh, he said, is
no more expensive than the city center. The 20-minute commute to central
Phnom Penh is not a problem, since you actually avoid much of the
city’s traffic, he said.
Another resident, Peter Kooi, a Dutchman who works in the microfinance
sector, said that most of his neighbors are members of Cambodia’s
wealthier classes.
“They are lawyers and bankers—Cambodian professionals,” he said.The
project, a joint venture between YLP Group—a company controlled by the
wife of former Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Ke Kim
Yan—and Indonesian company Ciputra, is ambitious. So far, only about 100
families have moved in since the project was approved in 2006, but the
“city” will ultimately include 4,500 houses, a water park, a school and a
shopping area, covering 260 hectares in all.
According to Yap Chee Yeong, the project’s director, the “quality of
life” is Grand Phnom Penh’s main attraction. But access to such
communities doesn’t come cheap with properties at Grand Phnom Penh
costing between $80,000 and $600,000 for the most expensive villas.
The different house models in the city—which has cost $150 million to
build so far—are named “Florence,” “Veneto,” and “Versailles” after
some of Europe’s most beautiful towns and cities.
“Our architectural designs are classic and colonial type, therefore
we named the properties with the European city names,” said Mr. Yap.
It is a monument to the new wealth on show in Cambodia, where the gross domestic product per capita remains below $1,000.
The golf course clubhouse’s walls show pictures of high-ranking
officials posing on the greens. Prime Minister Hun Sen is said to have
hit a number of holes in one on the course, which was designed by
Nicklaus Design, a firm owned by the U.S. major-winning golfer Jack
Nicklaus.
According to the global realtor CBRE, Grand Phnom Penh is one of
seven satellite city projects scheduled for completion in the next 10 to
15 years.
The projects cover together nearly 8,000 hectares, or about 12
percent of the city’s total land. They include the Overseas Cambodian
Investment Corporation’s (OCIC) 75-hectare Koh Pich project, where the
yellow villas of Elite Town are taking shape. Koh Pich also features a
driving range, “Elite Golf,” the colossal and grand “Koh Pich City Hall”
and a new development named “La Seine” after the river running through
Paris. There is even an adventurous plan to build the world’s second
tallest building.
The projects represent a new way of living for Cambodians, more like
suburban America than the Chinese row houses and bustling streets that
define most of Phnom Penh.
But there are doubts about the demand for this lifestyle. The
ambitious, $1 billion CamKo City has filled some apartment blocks and
villas, but stalled midway through construction in 2011 amid a financial
scandal among its South Korean investors.
And a report from CBRE in November concluded that “Current demand for satellite cities is low.
“Phnom Penh’s population is currently not willing to relocate to
these developments often due to the lack of amenities and facilities.
However, the satellite cities in Phnom Penh are all relatively new and
at this time they all have the opportunity to become success stories.”
Other announced satellite city projects include local businessman Ly
Yong Phat’s 1,000-hectare “Garden City,” set to include a new national
sports stadium, for which a ground-breaking ceremony was held this week.
There is also AZ Satellite City by AZ Group, the Asian Economic Zone
project by developer 7NG and a 2,572-hectare OCIC project named “New
City” on the Chroy Changvar peninsula.
According to figures from Bonna Realty, only between 20 and 30
percent of Cambodians living in Phnom Penh would consider living in
satellite cities.
But other projects, which are not classified as satellite cities but
are gated and guarded by private security firms and boast quiet streets,
new homes and play areas, are favored by more than half of Cambodians,
according to Bonna Realty.
“People want to live there more than satellite cities because
compounds are usually close to the city center,” said Hin Socheat, Bonna
Realty’s assistant to the managing director.
“They are faster to construct. When they buy, they can live there in a
short period. The satellite cities have many projects—villas, shops,
offices, markets—so they’re not finished.”
These compounds include Star Platinum—one of six projects, at varying
stages of completion, being built by local businessman Peng Huoth.
Buyers can obtain credit if they put down an $8,999 deposit.
Star Platinum lies just off National Road 1, and is an oasis in which
children’s bikes are abandoned on curbs and sports utility vehicles
fill driveways.
So far, work has finished on the first phase of the project where
there are a total of 500 units made up of two-story terraced homes going
for $74,600, right up to ostentatious villas going for as much as
$739,800.
Promotional brochures for the project show living rooms fitted with
modern white furniture, flat screen televisions and shiny metallic
surfaces for picture frames and ornaments. Bedrooms come with walk-in
wardrobes and kitchens with American-style refrigerators complete with
water dispenser.
Kong Sin, 54, lives in an $80,000 terrace house—one of the smaller
options in the project, which is expanding rapidly and is already home
to more than 500 families.
“There’s a pure breeze. It’s really good,” she said, comparing the
lifestyle favorably with normal Phnom Penh living where it is nosier and
more polluted.
“In the evening, you can’t let the children out if you’re in the
city. They stay in the house. Here, you can let them go where they
want.”
Also in the Western-style streets of Star Platinum, which as yet does
not have any proper amenities, the large orange cooler boxes of a
roadside shop stand out.
Dy Heang has converted the ground floor of her home into a store, selling coffee and groceries to residents.
“A lot of people are living here already, so I set up a small shop,”
she said, adding that she was happy to be living outside of central
Phnom Penh.
“I like living here because it’s safe. It’s a new city and you feel safer,” said Ms. Heang.
“You can leave your door open any time of the day.”
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