CONSTRUCTION will begin in early 2009 on the three-tower “Zawgyi Complex” in Yangon’s Lanmadaw township, the project’s principal architect said last week. The construction period is expected to be two years.

The project, on Zawgyi Road, will comprise three eight-storey blocks on 29,000 square feet of land. The lower three floors of each building will be retail and office space and the upper five levels will be sold as residential units, according to the designers.

“We’ve got conceptual authorisation for the project and the final structure design is also complete. We are now waiting on the construction permit and hopefully we can start work in early 2009,” said architect U Sithu Myint Swe, who designed the building over a seven-month period.

The larger central building has a commercial area of 15,132 square feet and also includes 40 1700-square-foot apartments in two towers. The two smaller buildings each feature 4230 square feet of commercial space and 10 2068-square-foot apartments.

“The three lower floors are suitable for shopping centres and offices. This is prime commercial real estate, in a downtown township near Bogyoke Road and Bahosi housing complex,” U Sithu Myint Swe said. “Each apartment comes with three bedrooms, one master with ensuite and two ordinary, a dining room, kitchen, bathroom and laundry area,” he said.

“This is not luxury condominium but they are quality apartments. Each room comes with tiles and bathroom fittings as well as water and electricity supply. The theme of my drawing is to have ventilation in every room and minimise energy requirements, while tailoring the building to the land size, client requirements and investment,” he said.

He said that there will be no presale system but the owner will sell according to buyer demand, floor by floor or entire block. Construction will be block by block and it is expected the project will be completed in about two years.

There will be six lifts servicing the three blocks: four in central building and one each at side buildings. Each residential unit will be allocated one parking space but there will be no commercial parking.

U Sithu Myint Swe declined to name the construction company, saying only that it was a “private developer”.