Tall & Urban News

After a recent meeting held between Ho Chi Minh City leaders and real estate business owners, several pending housing investment projects are set to be revived.

Concerned authorities will investigate the various difficulties facing these projects and reasons for the delay before gradually resolving all issues to enable completion of the construction work that has been on hold for several years.

One such project is at 76 Ton That Thuyet in District 4. This project on public land was assigned by the Prime Minister for the Khanh Hoi Glass Factory under Decision 607/TTg in October 1994. Later, the Saigon Beer Alcohol and Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) had a joint venture with the Malaysian partner to establish the Malaya Vietnam Company Limited (MVG) to make a glass packaging factory there.

However, after this arrangement was made, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City decided that Sabeco HP can use 16,000 square meters of this land area to invest in the Charmington Iris Apartment Trade and Service Center Project. This project would consist of two building blocks of 35 floors each with a total of 1,438 apartments, to be developed by the TTC Land Company and Viet Real Estate Trading Joint Stock Company (Vietcomreal). Now this project is again being investigated and reviewed for completion.

Nguyen Thi Nhu Loan, General Director of the Quoc Cuong Gia Lai Joint Stock Company, said that a dozen of her business projects were suspended in 2019. However, at three meetings with city leaders in 2019 and 2020, it was decided that six projects would be resolved and implemented for completion. In another case, Luu Thi Thanh Mau, General Director of the Phuc Khang Corporation, said that the project on Luy Ban Bich Street was suspended when under construction in 2017, and now must complete certain legal procedures before it can be restarted.

Bui Xuan Huy, General Director of the Novaland Group, said that the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and related departments and agencies are working to remove obstacles in some pending projects of their enterprise. For example, the Co Giang Apartment Project at 100 Co Giang Street in Co Giang Ward in District 1, has been given a construction permit by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and the Department of Construction. Projects like commercial centers, offices, officetels, and apartments at 151-155 Ben Van Don Street in Ward 6 in District 4 have been approved by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition, the high-rise apartment building project at 67 Mai Chi Tho Street in An Phu Ward in District 2 and District 7, as well as other projects in Phu Nhuan District are also being currently assessed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Ho Chi Minh City and related departments and agencies for land use fees and granting of certificates of land use rights and assets on land to the people.

Recently, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City also agreed to a proposal made by the Department of Construction to reopen a project on 628-630 Vo Van Kiet Street in District 5. This particular plan was approved for the Saigon Vi Na Real Estate JSC and comprises of a complex of a mixed-use high-rise, and two residential buildings, with a total area of about 31,000 square meters. The total investment cost was about VND5 trillion (US$213 million) but was discontinued a while back due to public land issues.

Now the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City will determine the value of land use rights at market price on the basis of two to three independent unit valuation certificates, referring to value of land use rights at the auction site in the vicinity of the project, to ensure full collection of land use fees at market price.

Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), said that in the current market situation, the actions of city leaders has been positive. However, there are still many problems related to changes in laws where most problems currently pertain to issues of public land which are under the jurisdiction of the State. As a rule, public land must be auctioned, but in the past the authorities assigned it, resulting in projects being stopped due to legalities.

A case in point is the 32-hectare project of the Novaland Group in Binh An Ward in District 2, acquired under the land fund of the 21st Century International Development Co. Ltd. The project was decided under investment policy No. 3990/QD-UBND and is completing the relevant legal procedures, introduced by Novaland in 2018, under the name Water Bay, located on Mai Chi Tho Street in Binh Khanh Ward in District 2. The project will have twelve building blocks that will provide around 5,000 apartments, 3,000 officetels, and 250 shops. The delay in the project has affected the overall business situation of the group as well as investors. Novaland has sent a letter to the government asking for support and continuing of the implementation and completion of the project to stabilize the business.

However, now many businesses are not willing to wait for the government to act but are proactively proposing solutions. For example, the Him Lam Land Company has asked permission to pay the land use fees in advance to be able to develop the project early. If such an advance amount is accepted, then the real estate business can immediately begin implementing and completing the project.

According to Le Thi Bich Ngoc, Deputy General Director of the Him Lam Land Company, they have proposed to meet all financial obligations at the rate allocated to the project, so that the Real Estate 10 Joint Stock Company can fulfill its responsibility to build the infrastructure according to the approved plan. Le Thi Bich Ngoc also said that they have proactively proposed helping in collecting revenue for the State as well as for secondary investors.

For more on this story, go to Saigon Dautu.