The Property Management Office, Chulalongkorn University (PMCU) has built a new district in the heart of the city as a community mall for young startup entrepreneurs, named “Block 28”. The project consists of functional space utilization that meets the needs of a variety of modern lifestyles, sustaining the master plan and responding to propelling the use of 3L space, which includes Learning Style, Living Style, and Life Style.
Prof. Dr. Wisanu Subsompon, Vice President for Asset Management and Innovation, supervising the PMCU, revealed that the office has a strategic plan to develop commercial areas of 385 rai (approx. 616,800 sq. meters) by preparing a master plan and laying out project development ideas in various areas. The development of each project area has a clear character set, comprising multi-use areas, retail, office, and residential areas. The development of the area has a clear target group and meets the needs of creating added value for society, and at the same time by creating the Block 28 Co-Creative, a start-up community in the heart of the city in the Suanluang-Samyan area. It is a 3-storey commercial building project with 5 buildings with a total area of 15,000 square meters. It is a flexible multi-purpose building that can be used at all times. The building can create a community of workers at different times and has an affordable rental rate that should be able to help new generation businessmen, start-up businesses, or groups that have just started a business, that need a city center office to be its center of modern technology. Each building has a different functional style, which consists of;
Building A. Provides ASEAN-standard co-working space services in the form of a coffee shop under the name “Sati”. It is not just a place to sit and sip coffee but is a coffee shop geared toward workshop activities for craft lovers. The outstanding modern Thai-styled woodwork is managed by the Methavalai Sorndaeng team, who are legendary for their tastiness. After encountering success with its first branch at Ratchadamnoen, it expanded to a new branch here with a new modern Thai-styled restaurant concept. The restaurant features spicy food to please the new generation, as well as, other original menu options to satisfy families and health-conscious foodies, through the use of a mixture of Thai herbs in their menus and the traditional use of kaffir lime juice and citron to induce sourness instead of the typical lime.
Building B. Is the CU INNOVATION DISTRICT area, an area of opportunity that gathers successful startup companies created by Chulalongkorn University students, such as Meticuly, which started from a small group of Chula engineers that had the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge in helping doctors create the world’s first artificial finger bone made from titanium. The company is dedicated to helping patients get the right treatment by creating a research and development team until they came up with an innovation for the production of prosthesis, including various other surgical equipment, to create a better standard for future products. Builk.com revolutionizes the construction and real estate industry and brought it into the 4.0 economy by developing software and platforms using high technology to increase operator productivity. Finnomena, is a leading investment advisor that aims to create a financial phenomenon for the Thai people. It will be the first flagship in Bangkok and currently has more than one hundred thousand users, representing a total investment advisory of over 7,500 million baht.
Building C. Is a food business collaboration between PTTOR and Texas Chicken, a QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) restaurant. The brand only selects non-frozen fresh chicken then marinates it with a special recipe sauce, and meticulously mixes and fry it before serving it hot. The fried chicken is crispy on the outside while still maintaining its juiciness on the inside. This tastiness is like to other and is unique to only this Texas Chicken branch at Block 28. In addition to being a restaurant, it is also designed to be a food innovation/educational center to provide opportunities for students or people, who are interested in food technology, to learn food production processes through its Mini Kitchen. It is also a place for experimenting with the creation of future new menu items for Texas Chicken as well. In addition, in the co-working space area, there are opportunities for startups such as the AnyMind Group, Global Digital Agency, etc.
Building D. Main magnet is the Lemon Farm Organic & Natural Food supermarket, which features products that are safe from toxic chemicals, especially natural agricultural products for enhancing consumer health. It is an organization that gives farmers, fruit growers, and consumers, the opportunity to collectively create something together and establish a mechanism to link them together into helping each other in building well-being for the community, inherit the culture that contributes toward the good health of society, and help promote a healthier community.
Building E. Is an incubator for food specialists that comes with a central kitchen service that allows those who want to have their own restaurants to use the central kitchen to cook food for sale to consumers without the need to have their own kitchen. This also helps in saving the kitchen’s budget as well. In addition, one will also be able to discover the new look of the White Flower Kitchen, a Thai restaurant formed by the collaboration of food and pastries lovers. Most of them are unique in their own way and are usually found in shopping centers or department stores. The restaurant will debut as the first stand-alone branch on an area of 350 square meters and will serve as a hangout for the new generation. It is modern as well as features a variety of menu items to meet the demands of the new generation within the area.
