SKorean firm plans $300m project

Monday, 08 March 2010 15:02
Soeun Say

SOUTH Korean developer Hi-Sun Group is set to invest US$300 million on a commercial and residential development in the capital’s northern Russey Keo district, said a company representative.

Joseph Lim, personal secretary to Chairman Kim Byung-hak, said the firm would start building offices buildings and residences, including luxury villas, on the 2.5-hectare site by the end of the year.

“We are planning to start construction on our project this year, but we are not being specific on the schedule for completion, as we don’t yet know,” he said, adding that Hi-Sun was specifically targeting South Korean companies to invest in the development.

South Korea’s Technology Innovation Construction Co Ltd (TIC) would be partnering on the project, Lim added, which will include buildings 25 storeys high.

The start date for the project appeared to be some way off, however, as an official of the Construction Department of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction said it had not yet received any request to build on the site.

“This is a big investment for the construction sector, if it is really going to be built,” said Lao Tip Seiha, director of the department, adding that the firm would receive governmental backing were it to apply for the necessary paperwork.

Hi-Sun has partnered with TIC on a number of Phnom Penh construction projects. In September, TIC Sales and Marketing Manager Charles Villar told the Post the two South Korean firms were working together on five projects in the Cambodian capital – two on the outskirts and three within the confines of the city.

The group has already completed a luxury residential development, De Castle Diamond, in Toul Kork district, the largest condominium project in Phnom Penh at 178 units within an 18-storey building on 2,500 square metres of land.

Another project, the $11 million L’Artisan Takhmao Villa Development, features 40 luxury villas on the outskirts of the capital in Kandal province. Construction work began following a groundbreaking ceremony at the site in Toul Krasang Village on June 26.