? New awards include Special Recognition in Sustainable Development, Best Luxury Villa Development (Hua Hin), Best Community Retail Development and an expanded Best Condo Development (Bangkok)
? Property Report Congress series debuts in Thailand to highlight the property market's resilience
MQDC Magnolia Quality Development Corporation, Minor International and boutique firm Lucky Living Properties are just a few of the top contenders in the biggest real estate awards programme in the Kingdom, the 11th Thailand Property Awards 2016, presented by Hansgrohe and organised by PropertyGuru Group, Asia's leading online property group.
More than 200 developments have entered this year – up 32 percent from 2015 – and now the independent panel of judges have whittled down the list to 36 companies who will compete in 33 award categories.
Leading with nine nominations is MQDC, which was Highly Commended in the Best Developer category in 2015, the landmark 10th anniversary of the Awards. This year, MQDC is competing in the expanded luxury condominium categories, including Best Ultra Luxury Condo Development (Bangkok) for The
Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok and Best Luxury Condo Development (Bangkok) for Magnolias Waterfront Residences at ICONSIAM.
With a healthy demand from Thai super prime buyers and Asia-based foreign investors, the upscale residential segment remains one of the most active in the industry. Last year's Best Developer winner SC Asset is also competing in the luxury/high-end categories, along with big names such as Sansiri, Major Development and Menam Residences, for projects located in the Chao Phraya River, Wireless Road, Saladaeng, Phrom Phong and Ladprao areas.
In addition to the revamped condo awards, the best low-rise and high-rise condo developments in the capital will be recognised in separate categories for the high-end and affordable segments. There is also a new award waiting for the Best Community Retail Development in the country.
Elsewhere in the Kingdom, emerging and established developers are competing in the residential/housing/villa categories in the popular holiday destinations of Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Samui, Phang Nga/Krabi, and the Eastern Seaboard.
"2016 has been the most challenging year since I joined the central judging panel in 2014," according to Suphin Mechuchep, managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle (Thailand), and chairperson of the judges. "There were a total of 214 of entries, a significant increase from only 163 last year. All of the judges spent a lot more time and effort than previous years on entry reviews and site visits. But it has also been a great experience as we have had excellent opportunities to meet with many interesting property developers as well as designers and architects who are involved in these projects."
In the awards programme's 11-year history, the Thailand Property Awards have gathered the top experts in the fields of real estate development, advisory, consultancy, management, architecture and design to sit on the esteemed judging panel. Presiding the jurors this year is returning judge Dr Manop Bongsadadt, renowned professor of architecture at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University and president of the 2016 judging panel.
"The judging criteria covers many other major aspects such a locational advantage, design concept, marketing success, sustainability and value for money for customers. So we had a clear parameter to decide which developments deserve an award," notes Suphin. "It is amazing to see the number of high-profile developers investing in key resort locations across the country and not just in Bangkok."
To ensure fairness and transparency for which the Thailand Property Awards is known, BDO, one of the world's largest accounting and auditing firms, supervised the entire nomination period, site visits, and the meticulous judging process up until the judges' final deliberations last week.
Winners will be revealed during the exclusive, black-tie gala dinner on Thursday, 22 September, at the prestigious Plaza Athenee Bangkok, a Royal Meridien hotel. An estimated 600 industry-leading figuresand top real estate executives are expected to join the event, which will be graced by VIP guest and opening speaker Khun Suwat Liptapanlop, former Deputy Prime Minister and executive director of Proud Real Estate.
Finalists in the Development section will seek to win in their respective categories in order to qualify for the Best of the Best awards – including Best Housing Development (Thailand), Best Condo Development (Thailand) and Best Commercial Development (Thailand) – that will allow them to move on to the ASEAN grand finale and represent Thailand at the 6th South East Asia Property Awards in Singapore this November.
"After a slightly improved performance during the first semester especially in the luxury segment, the domestic real estate sector wishes to continue its streak at the industry's biggest annual event, the Thailand Property Awards, which now enters its second decade" says Terry Blackburn, founder and managing director of the Asia Property Awards.
"As always we are delighted to welcome the finest boutique and up-and-coming developers in Thailand to the awards programme along with the Kingdom's biggest and established developers, who have returned to the competition to get the industry's stamp of approval for the 11th year," he adds.
"We have a fantastic judging panel and a roster of outstanding finalists that symbolise the Thai property sector's resilience. For developers to stay competitive, the quality of their projects has gotten better year after year amidst the economic and socio-political challenges facing the industry. We received a lot more entries in the design categories than previous years, and it's quite exciting to see who will shine during the awards ceremony."
Aside from the 33 shortlist categories, the Thailand Property Awards will recognise an individual who has contributed significantly to the local property sector in the past year. Presented by the editors of industry-leading Property Report magazine, the Real Estate Personality of Year accolade will be the only award not selected by the independent judging panel. The previous recipient of this honour was Minor International's founder and CEO William "Bill" E. Heinecke, who accepted his award during the 10th anniversary gala.
The 11th Thailand Property Awards 2016 will boosted by the support of title sponsor Hansgrohe, gold sponsors Teka and JLL Thailand, official media partner Property Report – the host of the high-level real estate networking conference Property Report Congress Thailand 2016, which debuts in Bangkok right before the annual Gala Dinner – and the country's top media and business associations, as well as the network of 16 million real estate consumers of the PropertyGuru Group, including Thailand's No. 1 property portal, DDproperty.com.
Early bird tickets to Thailand's premier real estate event are offered until 1 September only. For tickets and more information, contact [email protected] or visit the official website: AsiaPropertyAwards.com/thailandpropertyawards/