D.I. Riviera Review: Phase One of Five on Koh Pich

Quick answer: D.I. Riviera was the first condominium built on Koh Pich, a 32-storey debut tower of 400 units, planned as the first of five buildings on the same site. Its operating record is the strongest reason to look at it. The four buildings still to come are the strongest reason to negotiate hard.

The name on this page was wrong. The project is D.I. Riviera, not “DI Rivella”: a corruption that appears in no developer or portal record. The URL still carries the old spelling and will be corrected when redirects are next approved; the content is right now.

What is D.I. Riviera and where does it sit?

D.I. Riviera is a condominium scheme close to the Bassac riverbank on Koh Pich, filed on the portals under Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamkarmon, the administrative area containing the island. It was the first condominium built on Koh Pich, and its debut tower rises 32 storeys with 400 residential units, as the first of five planned buildings.

Fact	Verified position	Note
Correct name	D.I. Riviera	Corrects “DI Rivella”
Location	Koh Pich, near the Bassac bank	Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Chamkarmon
Position in market	Island’s first condominium	Longest record on Koh Pich
Debut tower	32 storeys, 400 units	Completed
Planned scheme	Five buildings	Four still to come
Positioning	Five-star marketing	Judge on the record, not the label

Our read is that this building’s two defining facts point in opposite directions, which is what makes it interesting rather than simple. Being first gives it the one thing the island’s newer towers cannot manufacture: years of operation, a settled co-ownership body, a sinking fund with a spending history and real transfers at known prices. On an island where several schemes are still delivering, that is a genuine advantage and it is checkable in a week. Being phase one of five gives it the opposite problem. A developer with four more buildings to sell on the same plot is a permanent competitor to every owner inside the first one, and that competition is better resourced than any private seller: it has a showroom, a warranty, a payment plan and a reason to move stock on its own schedule.

The island itself is documented in the Koh Pich profile, and the newer completed neighbour worth comparing against is Diamond Bay Garden. For how to price a unit against a moving competitive set, see the resale valuation guide; for planning the sale before you buy, the exit strategy guide.

How does foreign ownership work in a five-building scheme?

On Koh Pich the whole island sits in private ownership, so a foreign buyer holds strata freehold above the ground floor inside the 70% cap on total private-unit area and nothing beneath it. In a phased scheme that cap is not one number: it attaches per co-ownership building, so each completed building has its own ledger and its own headroom.

Ownership item	Position	What to demand
Legal basis	Strata co-ownership, Sub-Decree 126	Certificate for the building
Foreign cap	70% per co-ownership building	Dated extract, that building
Phasing	Five buildings planned	Which are registered so far
Land	Reclaimed island	Hard title beneath the strata plan
Shared facilities	Across the scheme	Which entity owns and bills them
Title	Individual strata title	Land Office verification

What we could verify is that the legal route is ordinary; the phase-specific question is who owns and charges for facilities designed to serve five buildings when only some exist. A pool, a gym or a garden built in phase one and intended for the whole scheme has to be paid for by whoever is living there now, and the arrangement that governs that is in the co-ownership documents rather than in the sales brochure. Two patterns are common and very different: shared facilities held by the first building’s owners, who carry the full cost until later phases contribute; or facilities held by the developer and licensed to each building as it completes. The first can mean phase-one owners subsidise the scheme for years. The second can mean the amenity you bought is not actually yours. Both are workable if known; neither is discoverable after the deposit.

Eligibility is covered in can foreigners buy property in Cambodia and foreign ownership and strata title. The registration path is in strata co-ownership registration, the working sequence in due diligence step by step, and phased-delivery discipline in the off-plan guide.

What does competing with your own developer cost?

While unsold stock remains on the site, the developer sets the reference price inside the gate. That is the mechanic every phased scheme shares, and it is the single most useful thing to understand before making an offer here.

Input	Position	Effect on an owner
Buildings planned	Five	Competition for years
Debut tower	400 units	Your immediate cohort
Developer’s tools	Showroom, warranty, payment plan	A private seller has none
Island supply	Several schemes delivering	External competition too
Citywide vacancy	~15%	The letting backdrop
Realistic exit	Below current developer list	Price it in on entry

Insider tip: ask the sales office directly how many units remain unsold across the completed buildings, and treat a refusal to answer as the answer, a scheme with little remaining stock is a different investment from one with hundreds of units still to move, and the difference is worth more than any discount on offer. Our analysis of phased developments keeps producing the same rule: a resale must either undercut the developer’s list or offer what the list cannot, a mature fit-out, a specific aspect, a tenant already in place, or immediate availability against a construction wait. Buyers who intend to exit inside the delivery runway should assume a discount of the order of 5% to 10% against list and decide now whether the purchase still works. Buyers holding past the final phase inherit something better: a completed community where the developer has left and the market is set by owners rather than by a sales desk.

The pricing method is in the resale valuation guide and the bargaining position in the negotiation guide. Island-level supply is described in the Koh Pich profile; the completed alternative on the same island is Diamond Bay Garden.

What does the island’s earliest record let you check?

Being the first condominium on Koh Pich means this building has been operating longer than anything around it, and at 32 storeys with 400 units the records are substantial enough to be informative.

Evidence	Where it lives	What it settles
Sinking fund	Statements across the building’s life	Funded wear or deferred wear
Maintenance log	Managing agent	Lifts and plant at this age
Occupancy	An evening count of lit windows	Whether the tower is lived in
Transfers	Agent files, Land Office	The real price curve on the island
Arrears	Management accounts	Collection discipline at 400 units
Island charges	Co-ownership documents	What private infrastructure costs

The methodology this corpus applies to older stock is to weigh the fund’s spending against the building’s visible condition, because the two together answer a question no viewing does: whether the money collected has been spent or postponed. At Phnom Penh’s typical $1.50 per sqm per month, a 90 sqm unit has contributed on the order of $1,600 a year to upkeep, and across 400 units that is a meaningful annual budget with a visible result, or a visible absence. Koh Pich adds a second layer most mainland buildings do not have: island infrastructure is private, so roads, drainage and public lighting are funded by owners rather than by the municipality, and that cost sits somewhere in the documents. A building with the island’s longest record is also the one whose owners have been paying that bill the longest, which makes its statements the most instructive on the island.

The recurring-cost method is in the sinking fund and fees guide; the case for buying stock you can inspect is in buy new vs resale. Ownership from abroad is covered in the management guide, and the island’s own economics in the Koh Pich profile.

How does it compare with the island’s newer towers?

Koh Pich now carries several completed schemes, including Diamond Bay Garden at 39 floors and 591 units with handover from late 2025. Against those, this building trades record for specification.

Option	Position	The trade
D.I. Riviera	Island’s first, 32 storeys, 400 units	Longest record, phased competition
Diamond Bay Garden	39 floors, 591 units, recent handover	Newer spec, shorter history
Other island stock	Various stages	Compare in an afternoon
Mainland Tonle Bassac	Established, no island charges	No private-infrastructure cost
City average	~$1,800 per sqm	The anchor
The decision	Record against newness	On a small island, buyers see both

Our underwriting notes the specific difficulty of a small island: every alternative is a ten-minute walk away, so a buyer can inspect the whole competitive set in one afternoon and will. That transparency punishes any building trading on reputation and rewards the one with the better documents, which, on age alone, should be this one. The buyer scenario that fits is a purchaser who values a readable operating history and will use it as leverage, buying below the developer’s current list precisely because unsold stock exists. The scenario that fits badly is a buyer who wants the newest specification on the island; they should look at the recent handovers and accept the shorter record that comes with them. What nobody should do is pay a phase-five price during phase two, and the way to avoid it is to ask the unsold-stock question before discussing the unit.

The island’s full picture is in the Koh Pich profile, the newer completed comparison in Diamond Bay Garden, and the city-level shortlist in best condos to buy in Phnom Penh.

What we could verify, and the correction

Claim	Classification	Evidence
Correct name: D.I. Riviera	Verified	Portal and developer records; corrects “DI Rivella”
Koh Pich, near the Bassac riverbank	Verified	Project listings
First condominium built on Koh Pich	Verified	Island reporting
Debut tower: 32 storeys, 400 units	Verified	Project documentation
Five buildings planned	Verified	Scheme documentation
Unsold stock remaining	Must obtain	Ask the sales office
Quota headroom for the building	Must obtain	Dated ledger extract
Shared-facility ownership	Must obtain	Co-ownership documents

The name is the correction that matters most, because a wrong name breaks every search a buyer might run to check us. The slug still reads “di-rivella” and is queued for renaming with the next approved redirect batch.

Advantages and disadvantages

For the purchase: the longest operating record of any condominium on Koh Pich; a settled co-ownership body and a fund with real history; 400 units, enough for internal comparables; an island address with genuine amenity depth; and an unsold-stock position that gives an informed buyer real negotiating leverage.

Against it: four further buildings competing with your resale for years; an older specification on an island where newer stock is a short walk away; private island infrastructure funded by owners rather than the city; shared facilities whose ownership may sit with the developer; and a name so widely mistyped that buyers researching it may not find the right building.

Buyer scenarios and decision framework

A documents-first buyer who negotiates against unsold stock gets the best outcome available here. A long-hold owner who intends to still be there after phase five inherits a finished community and should weight the fund’s health above everything. A specification-led buyer belongs in the island’s newer towers. And any buyer planning an exit within the delivery runway should price a 5% to 10% discount against the developer’s list into the purchase today rather than discovering it later.

Closing verification checklist

Before an offer: confirm the correct project name in every document; establish how many of the five buildings are registered, complete and sold; ask how much developer stock remains unsold; obtain the dated quota extract for the specific building; read the sinking-fund statement beside the maintenance log; establish who owns and charges for shared facilities and island infrastructure; secure closed transfers from inside the building; run the Land Office title and encumbrance search; and time the transfer against the 2026-12-31 duty window, with the 20% capital gains regime from 2027 in the exit model.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the project actually called? +

D.I. Riviera. Earlier versions of this page called it 'DI Rivella', a corruption that appears in no developer or portal record. It is filed on the portals as D. I. Riviera Condominium, Tonle Bassac, Chamkarmon, the sangkat containing Koh Pich.

Where is it and how big is the first tower? +

Close to the Bassac riverbank on Koh Pich. It was the first condominium built on the island, and its debut tower stands at 32 storeys with 400 residential units, as the first of five planned buildings.

Why does 'first of five' matter to a buyer? +

The four buildings still to come are your competition on resale and letting. While the developer holds unsold stock on the same plot it sets the price inside the gate, with a showroom, warranties and finance no private seller can match.

Can foreigners buy here? +

Yes, above the ground floor and inside the cap of 70% of the building's total private-unit area, counted per co-ownership building. In a multi-building scheme, confirm which building holds the unit and request that building's dated ledger.

Is being the island's first condo an advantage? +

Real on evidence, mixed on specification. First means a genuine operating record and a settled co-ownership body that newer island stock cannot show. It also means an older building competing with newer neighbours a short walk away.

What should I check before buying? +

How many of the five buildings are complete and sold; how much unsold developer stock remains; the sinking-fund balance and spending record; closed transfers inside the building rather than island-wide asking prices; and the charge for shared island infrastructure.