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<\/em><\/p>\nWhile living in Hawaii some 30-odd years ago, Bill Barnett read a book about Michael Rockefeller that changed the trajectory of his life.<\/p>\n
Rockefeller, an heir in the dynastic American family, famously disappeared near the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea in 1961.<\/p>\n
As Barnett read about what had happened, he became convinced he needed to see the place for himself.<\/p>\n
So, he picked up and moved there, finding a job in the country\u2019s highlands region that marked the beginning of a new life and career in Asia.<\/p>\n
Barnett later moved to the Philippines, arriving as President Ferdinand Marcos was toppled under the People Power Revolution, and eventually made his way to mainland Southeast Asia, where he became the first American hotel manager to work in post-war Vietnam in 1992.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it\u2019s been an interesting time,\u201d Barnett reflects. \u201cAs Asia grew, there were just so many new opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
His hotel work\u2014he spent time up and down Vietnam, in Hong Kong, and elsewhere on the continent\u2014led to a position in real estate at Laguna, the integrated community in Phuket in southern Thailand.<\/p>\n
And then one day, Barnett decided to combine his experience in hotels and property development to form C9 Hotelworks (short for \u201cCloud 9\u201d), a hospitality and real estate advisory group that today works across Asia Pacific and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re typically the first group people contact when they have an idea for a new development project,\u201d says Barnett, a native of California.<\/p>\n The Phuket-based company had projects last year in 11 countries, including as far away as Rwanda, performing market research and feasibility studies, in addition to \u201ccreating unique DNA for clients and a forward-looking view in the market,\u201d Barnett says.<\/p>\n C9 Hotelworks is involved in everything from resorts and city hotels to ultra luxury private villas, all the way to glamping resorts, private islands, and branded residences in places like the Maldives.<\/p>\n When you look beyond traditional mainstream markets like Bangkok, Phuket and Bali, where do you see exciting things happening in real estate?<\/strong><\/p>\n I always think it\u2019s interesting to look within a short distance of capital areas where people are going. Khao Yai outside of Bangkok is one example where things are happening. And I think Hua Hin will continue to transform.<\/p>\n Hua Hin is interesting because the international school and infrastructure\u2014the highway\u2014have grown along with it. That\u2019s creating a new market for people to live there full-time. It\u2019s transforming from a holiday or retirement place into something where people want to live.<\/p>\n What are some unique trends you\u2019re seeing in the region?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think the co-living concept is interesting. We really like a company called Homa. Their model is to get a hotel license. Then they can rent long-term but they can also rent short-term. So, they\u2019re able to effectively manage the yield. Unlike property developers that come in and sell the property, their model is meant to retain the asset to make it into a cash-flow machine.<\/p>\n Big demand generators for this model include places with international flights, international schools, hospitals, resort areas\u2014places where you have a lot of mid-tier management who want long-term accommodation. They want to rent. They want something a little better, which is maybe not just living in their own apartment, but it\u2019s easy to move in and everything\u2019s already there. You know: WiFi, drinking water, good gym, co-working space. It\u2019s easy to come and go.<\/p>\n Co-living is interesting because you\u2019re going to have a lot more people who want to be flexible. In Phuket, we see a lot of tech guys coming in and spending three to six months a year working here, and they want that kind of experience. They want to intermingle. They don\u2019t want to rent long-term. They don\u2019t want to rent a hotel room. It\u2019s something in between.<\/p>\n With regard to property development, much has been said about the impact of supply chains, inflation, and the Ukraine war. What are some other major challenges you see right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think you have to say what\u2019s happening in China. Every market sees that as a solution both for tourism and for property, and the economic reality is that the slowdown has been coming for a long time. The pandemic didn\u2019t create the China problem. Nothing goes in straight lines forever.<\/p>\n So, the writing has been on the wall for this, but I think people are certainly struggling with it. We do a lot of projects that use prefabricated pieces from China. Now, with supply chain disruption in China, people are looking to Vietnam and other solutions. But you don\u2019t know how much a project is going to cost because commodity prices are going up so quickly. Inflation is hurting the market. And currency is interesting\u2014up and down. There\u2019s a lot of uncertainty.<\/p>\n We like to have sustainability at the table when we start designing things. What are the green areas? What\u2019s the plan 10 years from now with electricity and water? How can we have more sustainable development?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Russian buyers and renters are quite active in major Southeast Asian markets like Phuket and Bali. What do you see on the ground there?<\/strong><\/p>\n We saw a great impact in Q1 and Q2, but we\u2019ve seen a softening of that now. Those traditionally were buyers who would come during high season. The question is: What\u2019s going to happen after the ruble got devalued? Are there going to be more Russians who want to take their money out? It\u2019s the same thing with Russians and Chinese: They want to bring their money out for investment. But when the currency is so low, is it better just to leave it there or not?<\/p>\n Fundamentally with Russians they\u2019ve been investment buyers, but they\u2019ve also been end-users of real estate, which is good. And they\u2019re buying in cash, so even if the market softens out, it\u2019d be a soft landing. The next high season is an unknown. I think it\u2019ll be about the currency.<\/p>\n What other demographic changes do you see in the region?<\/strong><\/p>\n We see a return of multigenerational living. That\u2019s important for both domestic and foreign buyers. We\u2019re seeing foreigners who bring their parents and grandparents to live with them.<\/p>\n Pre-Covid in Thailand, we\u2019d see people moving into condos\u2014the detachment of the family compound. Now we\u2019re seeing people gather again. The value system and lifestyles change. Also, people are working from home. They don\u2019t need to be in the office all the time. So, they view their residences as places that also need dedicated working areas\u2014which often means they need larger spaces. And I think that\u2019s going to continue.<\/p>\n How does C9 Hotelworks try to improve sustainability in real estate development?<\/strong><\/p>\n From a hotel perspective, owners often only see cost. The developer says, \u201cNo, I can\u2019t afford it. It\u2019s going to be more expensive.\u201d But a hotel\u2019s value is not how much it cost to build and the replacement value of the hotel. Valuation is based on discounted cash flow, meaning profit\u2014the long-term profitability of the hotel. We like to have sustainability at the table when we start designing things. What are the green areas? What\u2019s the plan 10 years from now with electricity and water? How can we have more sustainable development?<\/p>\n The biggest costs for a hotel are staffing and energy. If you\u2019re able to do a sustainable project at lower energy cost, your profit is more and your long-term valuation of the property is more. And I think it\u2019s really important to get developers to understand that. Our intention is to influence developers to do this because it makes economic sense\u2014but also for sustainability.<\/p>\n If you go to Singapore, it\u2019s expected to do these things. You go to Europe and it\u2019s expected to do the same. In the US, it\u2019s expected. But it\u2019s not expected to be done here. And so, I think we have a responsibility to encourage the market to start doing it here.<\/p>\n T<\/em>his article was originally published on\u00a0asiarealestatesummit.com<\/a>. Write to our editors at\u00a0propertyreport@propertyguru.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bill Barnett retains a strong instinct for opportunities after a long tenure in Asia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":36750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86,97],"tags":[133],"class_list":["post-36745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-magazine","tag-thailand","news_country-thailand","news_author-bill-charles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.asiapropertyawards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/shutterstock_286142051.jpg\")
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