Solutions sought for stalled buildings

Red tape often stalls approvals

Government agencies should clarify regulations related to suspended buildings and consult businesses on how to continue construction on a case-by-case basis, says Yodyiam Teptaranon, a former president of the Association of Siamese Architects.

He said regulations of different agencies sometimes conflict and impede further construction. In many cases, investors bought a suspended building to continue development but could not obtain approvals from some agencies.

For example, an abandoned building might have had a permit for factory construction but changed city planning or zoning rules for the site meant the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) could not allow new approval.

Mr Yodyiam recommended basing decisions on the city plan if there is a conflict with the Building Control Act.

“There should be a detailed summary of each suspended building remaining in Bangkok. Everyone involved should be asked to clarify their legal concerns so that investors or buyers and end users need not take a risk,” he said at a seminar.

Real estate professionals should educate investors on how to continue, complete and use those buildings.

According to the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), as of January, there were 205 suspended buildings with a total area of 4.96 million square metres, down from 508 buildings with 11 million sq m in 2001. Most were victims of the 1997-98 financial crisis.

Of the 303 suspended buildings where redevelopment occurred, 278 were completed with a total of 5.1 million sq m. Of the completed buildings, 219 were residential, 41 were offices and 10 commercial buildings.

Trairat Jarutat, an architecture lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said the successful revival of suspended buildings depended on locations that should be close to the central business district or mass transit.

Investors in suspended buildings should also do good marketing, choosing to develop buildings where supply was limited and demand very strong. They should also focus on buildings where at least the steel structures had been completed above ground.

“Projects successfully developed from suspended buildings were mostly developed by developers with similar expertise, or where their usage remained the same,” he said.

However, legal issues and debts incurred by former owners of some abandoned buildings remained a problem.

The REIC survey showed the 205 unfinished buildings comprised 158 residential buildings, 20 offices, 17 commercial buildings, two hospitals, a department store and seven buildings.

It also found 74% of suspended buildings or 152 were located farther than 500 metres from mass-transit stations. There were 24 suspended buildings near BTS stations, followed by others close to the MRT and the proposed Green Line between Mor Chit and Saphan Mai.

REIC director-general Samma Kitsin said many investors acquired suspended buildings and redeveloped them from 2003-06.

“Now that the Interior Ministry announced an amnesty on suspended buildings, the remainder will likely face the same future,” he said.

The ministry last November announced a ministerial regulation providing the amnesty to 178 suspended buildings with expired construction permits granted between Feb 17, 1992 and Aug 7, 2000.

Pinit Lertudomthana, a civil engineer with the BMA’s Building Control Division, suggested investors check construction permits, title deeds and city planning rules for the sites they like.

Veera Visuthiratanakul, a lawyer with the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, said if a construction permit was approved, land use was already approved so city planning rules should not affect a building.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post