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.. CENTARA GRAND - Developer Under DSI Investigation


brutox

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A relevant story a few days ago reported in Bangkok bears heavily on the suspended Waterfront Suites' unlikely resurrection .. brought to Pattaya by the very same guys who created the long-suspended Waterfront Suites, the even longer-suspended Centara Grand Residence is now under investigation by the DSI, a special police division trained to investigate white collar crimes .. my, my .. can you believe it?!

 

http://property.bangkokpost.com/news/1210369/customers-seek-dsi-help-for-unfinished-pattaya-condo

Customers seek DSI help for unfinished Pattaya condo

07 Mar 2017

WRITER: King-oua Laohong

 

 

 

More than 150 buyers of an unfinished condominium project in Pattaya have filed a complaint against the developer with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) after a construction halt.

The group of 157 people, led by actress Panadda Wongphudee, filed the complaint with the DSI director-general on Tuesday.

They bought off-plan the condo units of the mixed-use Centara Grand Residence Pattaya project in the resort city at prices ranging from 2 million to 35 million baht per unit. They estimated the damage at 500 million baht.

Ms Panadda said she booked a 35-million-baht unit in 2012, convinced by the ads and perspective plans. The owner later offered her a price cut to 20 million baht for her unit in exchange for her to be the project's presenter. She accepted the offer and signed a contract.

Months later, she claimed the owner chatted with her online, made advances at her and asked her to go out with him at night.

"I think it's suspicious so I cancelled the presenter deal and asked for a return of the booking amount of 2.5 million baht," she said.

But the project owner returned to her only 1.8 million baht, saying that some of the money had been invested in a business in Singapore, the 2000 Miss Thailand said.

"I thought that was the end to it. I had no idea the company continued to use me as the presenter."

Convinced by her and the name of the project, which implies it was owned by a well-known SET-listed hotelier, several of the buyers agreed to buy the units, Ms Panadda said.

After five years, the construction made little progress, with only piles and some structures set up despite the September 2016 completion date specified in the contract, she said.

The group subsequently filed a complaint with the Consumer Protection Board and lodged a civil lawsuit against the project with the Pattaya court seeking damages equivalent to what they had paid for booking fees and down-payment instalments.

The court later ruled the project repay them but the owner tried to put the project under a debt rehabilitation plan, Ms Panadda said.

The move worried them, prompting them to seek help from the DSI, she added.

According to public records, The Centara Grand Residence is developed by Bazis Development Co Ltd, with registered capital of 50 million baht.

Gulf Development Thailand BV, Adisak Narueprempree, Sattahip Realty Co Ltd and Tulip Property Development Co are the shareholders.

Tulip is the developer of a waterfront project in Laem Bali High whose construction was banned by the Pattaya municipality.

Besides the condo, the project plans to operate a hotel on Jomtien Beach. The entire project covers 18.8 rai, comprising two buildings -- the 351-unit condo and the hotel, to be managed by the Central Plaza hotel group after completion.

Ms Panadda also wrote on her Facebook on Monday the Centara group knew about the sales but denied any responsibility.

 

 

 

Ronnachit Mahattanapreut, senior vice-president for finance and Administration of Central Plaza hotel Plc, which manages the Centara hotel brand, said on Tuesday the group had been contracted to manage the project's hotel after it was completed.

 "We are not the owner of the project. If the project is not completed, the customers need to contact the real owner," he told the Bangkok Post. "Some customers misunderstand this but all we can do is to explain the facts."

 

 

 

The group later issued a statement to that effect, adding there was a disclaimer in all sales promotional materials for the condo part of the project from the start.

The disclaimer reads: "Centara Grand Residence Pattaya is being developed and sold by the Developer, Tulip Group (Bazis Development Co Ltd) and not by Central Plaza hotel Plc or its affiliates (“Centara”). Centara has not confirmed the accuracy of any of the statement of representations made herein, and Centara is not part of or an agent for the developer and has not acted as a broker in connection with the sale of Centara Grand Residence Pattaya. Neither Central Plaza hotel Plc  nor its affiliates, employees or representatives make any warranties or representations in respect of the project."Buying properties off-plan is a normal practice in Thailand. A developer usually requires a customer to pay a booking fee and a down payment in lump sum or installments over a few years while the buyer applies for a bank loan and the property is being built.

 

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Centara is Israeli owned. Tough and powerful men. Fully protected. Can do whatever they want.

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18 minutes ago, daphefresl said:

Centara is Israeli owned. Tough and powerful men. Fully protected. Can do whatever they want.

they or somebody had a valid thread about centara na jomtien removed from the most popular forum about thailand and visas info in particular

asking for help from the DSI is not quite the same as getting it

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Suit brought in Bangkok by the DSI against the developer of the failed Centara Grand Residence project, who also developed the failed Waterfront Suites project .. I dunno' men .. call me cynical, but if I squint my eyes just a bit, I can almost decipher a distinct pattern of behavior emerging here .. and, these two are not their only storied projects.

__________________________________________

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1210437/buyers-of-centara-residence-condo-file-lawsuit

Buyers of Centara Residence condo file lawsuit

8 Mar 2017

WRITER: KING-OUA LAOHONG AND ONLINE REPORTERS

Panadda "Boom" Wongphudee, a former Miss Thailand who is now an actress, model and businesswoman, says she and 156 others bought units at Centara Grand Resident Pattaya in 2012, but the project is still unfinished and possibly abandoned.

Miss Thailand 2000 Panadda "Boom" Wongphudee is leading a group of 157 people so upset over five years of construction delays that they filed a complaint with the DSI against the Centara Grand Residence Pattaya.

The suit says that the 157 had bought and paid for units in the project, but it was still unfinished, with work apparently halted.

Ms Pannada's actions forced Central Plaza hotel Plc, owners of the Centara brand, to back away from the project, claiming the company has a licensing agreement but no involvement in the unfinished construction project.

The Australian educated "Boom", who has been an actress and businesswomen since her year as Miss Thailand, filed the complaint Tuesday with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) against the developer of the mixed-use Centara Grand Residence Pattaya project after the company called a halt to construction at what many in Pattaya call an eyesore.

The suit names Tulip Group (Bazis Development Co). The firm has been advertising an "iconic" Centara Grand Residence at Jomtien, and selling units since at least 2012.

Tulip Group is a Pattaya-based firm with Israeli roots. The CEO and founder is Kobi Elbaz.

It introduced Centara Grand Residence in September, 2012, as a condominium project on 10 rai in Pattaya's Na Jomtien area. Mr Elbaz said that when completed in 2014, it would comprise 283 condominium units worth 6.4 billion baht and 200 hotel rooms operated by the Central Plaza hotel Group's Centara chain. It still has not been finished ………………….. (see full article in link above)

 

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  • 3 months later...
On 3/13/2017 at 0:44 AM, daphefresl said:

Centara is Israeli owned. Tough and powerful men. Fully protected. Can do whatever they want.

Mmmm, no .. Centara is not Israeli owned.

Though this is an easy mistake to make, daphefresl.

Unlike in the years before the industry started massively consolidating, hotels are now generally operated by hotel management companies, which are not necessarily the hotel owners .. as a matter of fact, most hotels are now owned and operated this way.

Industry icon Barry Sternlicht, of Starwood Capital Group, rewrote the industry field manual back on the 90's when he created Starwood hotels, acquired a number of hotels, then sold them off, but maintained the brand and the management contracts.

The management contracts is where the money is really made (in the net margins) .. a razor sharp guy, Sternlicht fundamentally changed an entire industry .. globally .. a gazillion now.

So, Centara is owned by the Chirathiwat family (Central Group) .. they do own about 40 hotels, which they manage themselves .. but, they are just now starting to catch on and are managing properties owned by others .. all decrepit dinosaurs, the family is late to the show, but better than never I suppose.

This is one of their managed properties .. a poor performance by their due diligence team is now damaging their brand .. steep learning curve for decrepit dinosaurs, but they still might get the hang of it.

The Israeli owner of the Tulip Group (which is the developer) used the Centara hotel brand and Central Group's reputation amongst Thai buyers, behind which they concealed themselves.

The buyers, as you, were misled (maybe actively, maybe not) into thinking that this was a Centara/Central Group project .. it is not.

Stooged buyers can try suing Centara/Central Group, but they are merely contracted operators and have no liability for the developer's behavior .. they got stooged just like the buyers.

 

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  • 5 months later...
On 21. juni 2017 at 14:54, brutox said:

Mmmm, no .. Centara is not Israeli owned.

Though this is an easy mistake to make, daphefresl.

Unlike in the years before the industry started massively consolidating, hotels are now generally operated by hotel management companies, which are not necessarily the hotel owners .. as a matter of fact, most hotels are now owned and operated this way.

Industry icon Barry Sternlicht, of Starwood Capital Group, rewrote the industry field manual back on the 90's when he created Starwood Hotels, acquired a number of hotels, then sold them off, but maintained the brand and the management contracts.

The management contracts is where the money is really made (in the net margins) .. a razor sharp guy, Sternlicht fundamentally changed an entire industry .. globally .. a gazillion now.

So, Centara is owned by the Chirathiwat family (Central Group) .. they do own about 40 hotels, which they manage themselves .. but, they are just now starting to catch on and are managing properties owned by others .. all decrepit dinosaurs, the family is late to the show, but better than never I suppose.

This is one of their managed properties .. a poor performance by their due diligence team is now damaging their brand .. steep learning curve for decrepit dinosaurs, but they still might get the hang of it.

The Israeli owner of the Tulip Group (which is the developer) used the Centara Hotel brand and Central Group's reputation amongst Thai buyers, behind which they concealed themselves.

The buyers, as you, were misled (maybe actively, maybe not) into thinking that this was a Centara/Central Group project .. it is not.

Stooged buyers can try suing Centara/Central Group, but they are merely contracted operators and have no liability for the developer's behavior .. they got stooged just like the buyers.

Very informative! Tulip bobble, nice name. 

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