Stalled prime location real estate projects mar HCM City
The chairman of HCM City Nguyen Thanh Phong has criticised three projects that remain uncompleted after a decade.
The Saigon One Tower, SJC Tower and Lavenue Crown Tower were named and shamed during a meeting between the city's leaders and real estate and construction companies on June 3.
Phong asked the Department of Construction to review all incomplete projects in the city and focus on finishing on-going constructions and rechecking those that haven't even started. According to Phong, many of those projects are located in prime locations.
On June 5, there was no activity at the named projects. Saigon One Tower's construction was started in 2007 and expected to be completed in 2009. It would be HCM City's third highest tower at 195 metres tall with VND5trn (USD220m) investment. However, only 80% was completed in 2011 and the project has stalled.
Lavenue Crown project is right next to Diamond commercial centre and the opposite of the headquarters of District 1 People's Committee. Lavenue Crown is a luxury apartment and hotel complex at 36 floors. Currently, the 4,921-square-metre space is being used as a parking lot.
Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association said each project had a specific situation but all of them were started when the real estate market in Vietnam was experiencing a slump. HCM City still has many projects that can't be continued or the investors just want to sit on the land.
Chau said there was a solution for Saigon One Tower so the project could be completed in the coming time. "The difficulty is there are four to five houses that haven't been cleared so the infrastructure isn't very pretty. I haven't received any information about the other two projects," he said.
He went on to say that the authorities need to issue punishments for tardy developments.
He said, "But the law is a rigid frame, the local authorities play an important role in meeting and listening to the enterprises so they can solve the problems together. The enterprises must also be proactive in trying to find solutions to finish their projects."
The Saigon One Tower, SJC Tower and Lavenue Crown Tower were named and shamed during a meeting between the city's leaders and real estate and construction companies on June 3.
Phong asked the Department of Construction to review all incomplete projects in the city and focus on finishing on-going constructions and rechecking those that haven't even started. According to Phong, many of those projects are located in prime locations.
On June 5, there was no activity at the named projects. Saigon One Tower's construction was started in 2007 and expected to be completed in 2009. It would be HCM City's third highest tower at 195 metres tall with VND5trn (USD220m) investment. However, only 80% was completed in 2011 and the project has stalled.
Saigon One Tower's construction was started in 2007
Lavenue Crown project is right next to Diamond commercial centre and the opposite of the headquarters of District 1 People's Committee. Lavenue Crown is a luxury apartment and hotel complex at 36 floors. Currently, the 4,921-square-metre space is being used as a parking lot.
Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association said each project had a specific situation but all of them were started when the real estate market in Vietnam was experiencing a slump. HCM City still has many projects that can't be continued or the investors just want to sit on the land.
Chau said there was a solution for Saigon One Tower so the project could be completed in the coming time. "The difficulty is there are four to five houses that haven't been cleared so the infrastructure isn't very pretty. I haven't received any information about the other two projects," he said.
He went on to say that the authorities need to issue punishments for tardy developments.
He said, "But the law is a rigid frame, the local authorities play an important role in meeting and listening to the enterprises so they can solve the problems together. The enterprises must also be proactive in trying to find solutions to finish their projects."
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