During a time when skyscrapers are emerging one after another in the capital of Cambodia, the Overseas Cambodia Investment Company (OCIC) is commencing the development of a 60-storey building and several high-rises to its’ Olympia City project.

Touch Somnang, vice director of the Overseas Cambodia Investment Cooperation (OCIC), said the company plans to invest $350 to $400 million into the development, which is to be completed by 2019, transforming the area into an active commercial area. Situated in the middle of Phnom Penh, the location has a lot of potential to attract investors, he explained.

The OCIC project includes a seven floor shopping mall expected to be completed by 2017, he added.

Initially, the building was planned to have 55 floors, however, OCIC added five more floors, which would make it the highest building in Phnom Penh.

Ngoun Han Rithy, construction manager of Olympia City, said engineers had finished surveying the land, and the next step is laying the foundation of the building.

Long Sopheak, sales and marketing manager of Olympia City, said the four condo buildings have already been placed on the market. According to him 99, 85, and 50 per cent of the three buildings have been sold.

The seven floor shopping mall will wait for completion before it starts looking for tenants, she said.

“This project will be successful because of its location in a commercial area in the middle of Phnom Penh, and customers are very confident in the project since we focus mainly on construction and quality,” she said.

Some units in the project range from $2,300 to $2,500 per square metre, while entire units sell for $103,000 to $666,000.

“Many customers who invested in the project are from Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia,” Sopheak said.

Chrek Soknim, CEO of Century21 Mekong, said the project should target both local and foreign customers. Setting up an accurate target should be the project owner’s main focus, said Chrek.

“There are less wealthy customers who can afford this lifestyle,’’ he said.

“Condo projects need to target both local and international customers because soley aiming towards foreign cutomers will leave the building with less residents.”

He added that the project needs to consider the level of economic growth and the average Cambodian’s spending power.

However, he added that Cambodia’s construction is outpacing the overall economy.

Soknim doesn’t forsee the economy booming drastically in the next ten years, although the development speed may be faster than other countries in the region.

“It is not time yet,” he said. “[This project] needs more time.”