ALLY unveils Palm Hills, a 20-block walkable district in Bangkok’s Upper East Side - Bangkok Post

Real estate investment firm ALLY Global Management (ALLY) has unveiled Palm Hills, a long-term plan to transform the Pradit Manutham corridor in northeast Bangkok, known locally as the city’s Upper East Side, into a green, walkable district. The first phase is due to begin in 2027, and all work will be funded by ALLY, with no government funding.  ALLY’s ambition is for Palm Hills to become one of Asia’s defining neighbourhoods for the next generation: a complete neighbourhood where homes, work, shops, parks and culture sit within a short walk of each other. 

Palm Hills will initially focus on the areas along Pradit Manutham Road, stretching more than five kilometres from HomePro Ekkamai-Ramintra to The Walk Kaset-Nawamin. The district takes in established housing estates and destinations including Central EastVille, Crystal Design Center, 111 PMT, The Crystal Palm Hills and Crystal Sports G. Palm Hills is not a single project but a name for the wider neighbourhood, of which The Crystal Palm Hills is one part. “Great neighbourhoods aren’t created by a single mixed-use project,” said Kris Eiamsakulrat, Chief Executive Officer of ALLY. “Our family has been building along this road for more than two decades. Palm Hills is about thinking beyond any one property and asking what this neighbourhood could become over the next generation.” 

The name draws on Lat Phrao, the area the district grew from. Lat means slope or hill and phrao means coconut palm. 

The plan rests on a simple premise: changing how a city feels does not require changing the whole city at once. Many of the world’s best-known neighbourhoods, such as SoHo in New York, Le Marais in Paris and Daikanyama in Tokyo, are compact clusters of streets where daily life happens on foot. 

“SoHo’s identity comes from a collection of walkable blocks where people live, work, eat, shop and run into old friends,” Mr Kris said. “If we can create 20 truly great, walkable blocks in Bangkok, clusters of streets, sois and public spaces connected by parks and paths, that can become a neighbourhood people identify with for generations.” 

Unlike much of inner Bangkok, where neighbourhoods have grown plot by plot, large parts of the Pradit Manutham corridor remain privately held and undeveloped. That gives Palm Hills a rare opportunity to be planned as a connected whole: a low-rise, human-scale neighbourhood closer in feel to a European city quarter than to a cluster of standalone towers. 

“This is one of the last areas within reach of central Bangkok where there is still enough open land to design a neighbourhood properly, with streets, parks and buildings that relate to each other,” Mr Kris said. “Once land is built out plot by plot without a unified vision, that chance is gone. Here, we still have it.” 

The first phase of the Palm Hills Promenade will be built on ALLY-owned land beside the expressway: a shaded pedestrian route with new trees, lighting, seating and resting points. Work is due to begin in 2027. 

Once the first phase is in place, ALLY hopes to support the relevant government agencies in improving the existing community walkway beneath the expressway. Any work on public land would be led by and subject to the approval of those agencies. 

“The city has already done important work to make Bangkok greener and more walkable,” Mr Kris said. “Our role is to support that effort, investing our own capital, starting on our own land, and helping where we’re invited to.” 

The 30-rai central park on ALLY-owned land will follow, with space for exercise, families, events and everyday gatherings. Green corridors will later link the promenade and park to surrounding communities. The plans draw inspiration from two New York landmarks: Hudson River Park, the linear park along Manhattan’s west side, and Washington Square Park, the cultural heart of Greenwich Village. 

Rather than wait years for a finished masterplan, ALLY chose to start with what it can deliver now, on its own land, alongside a path residents already use. 

Bangkok is known worldwide for its traffic. Palm Hills does not aim to remove cars. It aims to make walking the natural choice for short daily trips, such as dinner, coffee or meeting friends. Shade, trees and safer crossings are also designed to make walking more comfortable in Bangkok’s heat. 

“For generations, Bangkok has grown around the car. Trying to change the way people move through the city is a crazy idea,” Mr Kris said. “But it’s exactly the kind of crazy idea we’d love to make real.” 

“We want walking and biking to become a habit rather than an inconvenience,” Mr Kris said. “If Palm Hills can make everyday life a little more active, more connected and ultimately a little happier, then we will have built something truly meaningful.” 

Palm Hills will be an open district rather than an isolated gated development, with parks, paths and shops connecting directly to the communities and sois around them. It has no fixed eastern or western boundary, leaving room for neighbouring communities to join overtime. Plans include cycling links, climate-responsive landscaping, space for independent local businesses, and programming in wellness, arts, film, food and culture. 

The neighbourhood is already coming alive before construction begins. The Palm Hills Run Club is underway, with film, arts and food programmes to follow. ALLY is sharing the plan at this early stage so that residents and the wider community can help shape it. 

“The neighbourhood is already here,” Mr Kris said. “Our job is to connect it, open it up and give it the public spaces it deserves. Real estate can create the setting, but people create the neighbourhood.” 

The planned MRT Grey Line Monorail would run along Pradit Manutham Road through the heart of Palm Hills. Construction is expected to begin in 2030, and ALLY expects the line to support further transit-oriented development in the area. 

Palm Hills will take shape over many years rather than as a single construction programme, with residential, hospitality, cultural and commercial projects added over time and funded phase by phase. ALLY plans to work with residents, landowners, businesses and public agencies as the district grows. 

“Real estate is ultimately an exercise in stewardship,” Mr Kris said. “The streets and public spaces we leave behind can shape millions of lives for generations to come. We have an opportunity to think in decades rather than development cycles. If Palm Hills can show that a different way of building and living in Bangkok is possible, that may be its most important contribution.” 

More information is available at palmhillsdistrict.com. Residents, businesses and community groups are invited to share ideas and feedback at info@palmhillsdistrict.com. 

Founded in 2019 and based in Bangkok and New York, ALLY Global Management is a real estate investment and management platform. It manages the SET-listed ALLY REIT, whose portfolio includes retail and lifestyle properties nationwide. With its affiliate K.E. Group, the firm has invested along Pradit Manutham Road for more than two decades, including Crystal Design Center and The Crystal.