7 Makara Living Guide – The "Heart" of Phnom Penh, A Gathering Place for Chinese People”

7 Makara is the smallest but one of the most central districts in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. 

7 Makara district, which is comparable to the "heart" of the city, this area mainly brings together many commercial buildings, government offices, foreign institutions, and other residential developments projects. 

1. District introduction 

1.1 Regional Overview

7 Makara District covers an area of only 2.22 square kilometers, but it has the most densely population in Phnom Penh. Many Chinese residents also gather here, and the district is also called "China Town".

7 Makara covers 8 communes, which are: Orussey I, Orussey II, Orussey III, Orussey IV, Monorom, Veal Vong, Mittapheap and Boeung Prolit. 

In terms of geographical location, this small district is located on the east side of Phnom Penh city. It’s bordered by the major boulevards of Monivong to the east, Sihanouk Boulevard to the south, Nehru Blvd Boulevard to the west, Russian Boulevard to the north, as well as the Charles de Gaulle Blvd runs diagonally through the entire 7 Makara District, which is very convenient for the transportation.

1.2 Regional characteristics

7 Makara represents the center of Phnom Penh and it is also one of the earliest prosperous old district.

Veal Vong is one of the largest and most important area among the eight communes of 7 Makara district. The most representative landmark - "National Olympic Stadium" is located southwest of this area.

The Mittapheap commune north of Veal Vong is a place where various government departments gather. The Office of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of National Defense, High Command Headquarters, and the Ministry of Rural Development are all located in this commune.

 In addition, the remaining smaller communes in 7 Makara District also have their own development characteristics.

⒉ Surrounding Facilities

Economics/Commercial

The 7 Makara District has the largest traditional wholesale market in the area – Orussey Market. You can buy all daily necessities in the market, including fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, seafood, dried foods, salted fish, pickled products, etc. It is definitely enough for local people to shop and buy everything they need for daily use at home.

"Olympia Mall", the first modern large-scale shopping mall in 7 Makara District, which provides a series of brand stores, supermarket, children's theme parks, food courts, restaurants, cinema, medical hub, etc., bringing a convenient shopping and leisure experience. It is also surrounded by financial building, office building, apartments and other commercial buildings. At the same time, various exhibitions and other exciting events are often held in the mall, making it a popular visit-place for many young people.

There are other shopping centers like City Mall, Chip Mong Bak Touk, and Bayon Market in the area, which also provide various retail outlets, convenience stores, catering services… and can overall meet the daily grocery shopping, leisure and entertainment needs of the residents.

In addition, 7 Makara is adjacent to the PPCC (Boeung Kak) commercial district and Wat Phnom commercial district, which is very convenient for residents to take only a few minutes away to Eden Garden and Central Market.

Food

In terms of food, we can find Meatpphum Restaurant, Fisherman Quay, IFood Plus, Luk Hot Pot, Emperors of China, Mi Chay Vegetarian Food, The Pizza Company, with Khmer food, Chinese food, hot pot, vegetarian food, pizza, as well as many other restaurants to satisfy all the foodies. There are also popular coffee shops such as Luna Coffee & Bakery, Park Café Bak Touk, and 85C Bakery Café.

Government departments

7 Makara District is the administrative center of Phnom Penh, including Office of the Council of Ministers, High Command Headquarters, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Tourism, etc. are all located here, as well as the Inspection De La Police Khan 7 Makara to ensure the safety of residents.

Medical

There are not many large-scale international medical facilities in 7 Makara, most of them are local and private hospitals.

"Sorphear Maternity Hospital", a well-known local obstetrics and gynecology hospital, has three branches in 7 Makara District (one of which is located in Olympia City). There are also the Phnom Penh Municipal Referral Hospital, Sokret Polyclinic & Maternity, and other small hospitals and clinics to protect the health of nearby residents.

Education

7 Makara is also rich in educational facilities, such as Bak Touk Primary School and High School, Chey Thavy School, Sampov Meas Primary School, New Gateway International School, Phnom Penh International University, Limkokwing University, Chhong Cheng Chinese School, etc. are all located in this area , fully meeting the educational needs of Cambodian schools, Chinese schools, and international universities.

Leisure

If you want to exercise, there is the most iconic "National Olympic Stadium", which is equipped with indoor and outdoor sports venues, football fields, tennis courts, swimming pools, and other sports facilities.

In addition, the "Two Deer Park" located between Russian Boulevard and Jok Dimitrov Blvd is also a favorite place for young people and families to relax or jog in the evening.. There are many champey flower trees and seating on both sides of the park, where you can enjoy the fragrant air while taking a rest.

If you want to enjoy nightlife, there are Eclipse Skybar located on the top of Prince Phnom Penh Tower, Queen King Club (QK CLUB), THE STORM Pub & Restaurant, etc., all if which you can relax and have a drink with friends.

⒊ Real estate Market

1.1 New development project

In terms of the new residential projects, 7 Makara is similar to BKK District, which mainly dominated by condominium developer projects, and there are currently no new project launched. According to data from the Compass Real Estate website, the existing projects for sale in Makara District include Olympia City and BK Residence; the "move-in soon" projects include LIXIN CEO Center (the handover will begin at the end of this year) and Dingli tower; and the project under construction include Platinium Square.

The sales information of each property is as follows:

1.2 Rental market

In the rental market of 7  Makara District, we see that apartments are a popular residential type for foreigners, especially Chinese. Due to the size of the district and the area surrounded by many government buildings, the number of residential buildings in the district is relatively small compared to other top districts in Phnom Penh. However, tenants still have many options for accommodation, whether co-owned commercial buildings or private buildings, with full facilities in each building.

The average monthly rent is between $450 and $1,300. According to the Apartment Channel data on COMPASS.COM.KH, the following price list of apartments is as follows:

- Affordable apartment with rent from $300-900/month

- Mid-range apartments range in rent from $400-2,400/month 

- High-end apartment rental price from $650-8,000/month

The following is a table of the above apartment ranks in 7 Makara district with the most searches on COMPASS.COM.KH:

In addition to apartments for rent, other rental housing markets have prices such as:

- Villa types rent from $2,200 to $13,000 per month, have a size of 154 to 1,216 square meters, and have 4–11 bedrooms.

- Shophouses for rent start at $1,350–7,000 per month and have 1–10 bedrooms in sizes 50–386 square meters.

- As for the townhouse, the rent is between $800 and $4,000 per month. It is 60 to 134 square meters and has 2–8 bedrooms.

1.3 Second-hand housing market

Although Khan 7 Makara is a small district, due to the advantages of the location and maturity of the district, all types of real estate in the above district already have high prices, whether residential or commercial, especially villa types. 

According to the data on the real estate website COMPASS.COM.KH, the housing market (second-hand houses) has the following prices:

- Villas range in price from US$2.5–5 million, with sizes ranging from 336 to 1,440 square meters and 7-9 bedrooms.

- Shophouse prices range from US$170,000 to $1.5 million, ranging in size from 60 to 235 square meters and with 1–10 bedrooms.

- Townhouses are priced from US$350-670K and size from 60-160 square meters with 2-8 bedrooms.

- Houses in the old building cost between US$30 and $82K and are 55–123 square meters with 1-2 bedrooms.

- Apartment units range in price from US$50,000 to $450,000, with studios to three-bedroom types of 42–188 square meters in size.

1.4 Land market

According to the land price report in various districts of Phnom Penh for the first half of 2023 released by the Cambodian Valuers and Estate Agents Association (CVEA), the average land price near the main roads in 7 Makara District is about  $5860/㎡, and the average land price near the Sub-main roads is about $3510/㎡.

Land prices near main roads in the communes of Boeung Prolit and Orussey 1/2/3/4 are the highest, reaching $7,800 per square meter, but are still slightly lower than in the first half of last year.

The price of land near the sub- main road of the district, which is in Mittapheap commune, is the lowest at only $2,200 per square meter.

The land prices in various communes of 7 Makara district are as follows: