New marina back to the drawing board

With tenders in and civil works due to begin this month on Phuket’s latest marina project, Royal Phuket Marina Resort and Spa, developer Gulu Lalvani has decided to revisit some of the project’s fundamental concepts.

It was the last-minute intervention of internationally renowned property consultants, Knight Frank, that led to Lalvani’s dramatic decision, which came just days after the project team had moved into its new on-site offices.

“Martin Kaye of Knight Frank studied our plans and immediately advised me to think again,” said Lalvani. “His concern was centred on the residential and retail property aspect of the development, not the marina itself. But he’s clearly someone who knows what he’s talking about so, when he demonstrated how the market had moved since we conceived our original plan, I listened.”

According to Kaye, until recently head of Asia-Pacific investor services for Knight Frank, the local residential property market has become increasingly fragile, with 60% of top-end buyers traditionally coming out of a now deeply-troubled Hong Kong and a further 20% from Singapore, itself suffering declining prosperity. This, added to the current global uncertainty stemming from the Iraq war, meant that a large development of villas in the US$ 1 million+ range was an unacceptably high risk.

While planning of the marina itself was complete and ready to go, construction of the residential property surrounding it was scheduled for the project’s second phase. The thrust of Kaye’s argument was that Lalvani should take a market approach to what he builds, rather than ‘building from the heart’. “Smart developers will look to optimize the synergy between resort and residential areas,” says Kaye, adding, “They will design to the market, not market a design.”

“My vision is of a superb residential marina resort that complements the natural beauty of Phuket – and attracts top-spending residents and visitors. While it is absolutely not my intention to compromise that vision, the size of investment involved means I would be foolish if I didn’t listen to the best advice available,” said Lalvani.

The strategic rethink on how the marina, the residential property, and the retail elements of the development all fit together meant that Royal Phuket Marina could no longer guarantee to be ready to host Phuket’s first international boat show – Phuket International Marine Expo.

“I found myself wanting to ignore Kaye’s advice because we had made a commitment to the boat show’s organizers,” said Lalvani. “But my team made me realize that we could not allow the show’s timing to influence the shape of a multi-million dollar project.”

Once the decision to go back to the drawing board was taken, Lalvani immediately called in the show’s organizers and explained the situation, pledging his support and reaffirming his commitment to the development of Phuket’s marine leisure industry overall.

“I could have held off until our new plans were finalised,” said Lalvani, “but this boat show is good for Phuket and I want it to do well. The organizers and the exhibitors need certainty, not speculation. A delay in start of construction at Royal Phuket Marina would have fueled speculation and damaged the show’s prospects, so I decided to brief the organizers as soon as we decided to look again at our plans.”

Lalvani added that he was very concerned not to jeopardize the viability of the show. “I offered the boat show organizers my support in any way I could, and have made the Royal Phuket Marina site available as logistic support for show; our site could function as the Boat Show’s main entrance and we are providing facilities for the main car park,” he said.

On the future of the Royal Phuket Marina development, Lalvani stressed that the radical re-think was a positive move; with a strong residential property element, complemented by a well-planned and professionally-managed marine component, Royal Phuket Marina Resort and Spa would be a showcase for similar developments on Phuket and throughout the region.

For more information please contact Grenville Fordham   Email: