In mid-May 2016, a group of American companies proposed a $4 billion project in Thu Thiem. The investors consist of Imex Pan Pacific (IPP) Group, Cantor Fitzgerald, Weider Resorts and Steelman Partners.

 

According to Johnathan Hanh Nguyen, president of IPP Group, which, together with three US investors, wants to develop a big complex (TPP finance & conference center) in Thu Thiem with investment capital of $4 billion, the investors’ preparatory works for the project, from capital arrangement to detailed drawings, have been completed. Construction will kick off as soon as the investors receive the investment license.

Johnathan Hanh Nguyen is a well-known businessman who has introduced US investors to HCM City authorities.

 

The TPP finance & conference center is expected to cover an area of 11 hectares with financial, entertainment and tourism centers including a 70-story tower, other smaller towers and office-shopping-entertainment areas.

 

Though both HCM City authorities and US investors are determined to develop the project, some problems have arisen as investors want to change details of the project, while the overall development planning for Thu Thiem area has already been approved by city authorities.

 

The investors want to build a complex with a 70-storey tower, other lower buildings and closed entertainment areas.

 

Meanwhile, in the overall development plan for Thu Thiem area, the project would include 11 buildings, each building on one block.

 

The investors said the $4 billion investment is ready if the project is approved.

 

While American investors are awaiting approval for their $4 billion project, the construction of the $2.2 billion Thu Thiem Eco Smart City project, which is invested in by a joint venture between Lotte Group’s subsidiaries and Japanese enterprises, is expected to start in July.

 

The developer of the project is the joint venture between four of Lotte’s affiliates namely Lotte Asset Development Co. Ltd., Lotte Shopping Co. Ltd., Hotel Lotte Co. Ltd., and Lotte Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. and three Japanese enterprises namely Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation.

 

Covering an area of 16.71 hectares, the complex features an international trading-financial-banking centre, hotels, serviced apartments, offices, multifunctional condos with a highlight being a 50-storey building.

Previously, Lotte agreed to place a deposit of around VND2 trillion ($89.6 million) for the land use fee for six lots of land in Thu Thiem New Urban Area to develop the eco smart city project.

 

Empire City Limited Liability Company has broken ground for what will become the nation’s tallest building in the core part of Thu Thiem New Urban Area.

 

The US$1.2 billion Empire City complex will consist of an 86-storey observatory tower, a five-star hotel, a shopping mall, and office and apartment buildings. It will cover nearly 15 hectares on Mai Chi Tho Street and along the Saigon River, and be complete in 2022.

 

The four-phase project has total floor space of 730,000 square meters, including 130,000 square meters to be built until 2018, the company said at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Empire City complex last Friday.

 

The company is a joint venture between Tien Phuoc Real Estate Joint Stock Company, Tran Thai Real Estate Co. Ltd. and UK-based Denver Power Co. Ltd., a member of Gaw Capital Partners.

 

The investor has placed a deposit of US$35 million for the project.

 

Last June, the company got an investment certificate from the HCM City government to develop the multi-functional observatory tower project. The building would be higher than the country’s current two tallest skyscrapers – Bitexco Financial Tower with 68 floors in downtown HCMC and Keangnam Landmark with 72 floors in Hanoi, and an 81-storey building now under construction in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District.

 

Thu Thiem with a total land area of 657 hectares would have eight functional sections, with Section No. 1 for financial, banking and exhibition services; Section No. 2 for commercial, residential, sporting and entertainment facilities; sections No. 3 and No. 4 for housing; Section No. 5 for public works; Section No. 6 for software outsourcing and hospitals; Section No. 7 for high-rise buildings and hotels; and Section No. 8 for biodiversity development.

 

In Section No. 1 located by the Saigon River, Quoc Loc Phat Joint Stock Company plans a Song Viet commercial complex with total investment capital of over VND7 trillion (US$314 million) and scheduled to begin construction in 2016.

 

In Section No. 2, South Korea’s Lotte Group and its Japanese partners are expected to develop the Eco Smart City project worth over US$2 billion. Earlier, the group agreed to place a deposit of around VND2 trillion for a land use fee for six lots in Thu Thiem to develop the property project.

 

The HCMC government said site clearance in Thu Thiem is 99.45% complete with nearly VND17.3 trillion used for compensation.

 

At present, local agencies are assisting investors in completing administrative procedures to carry out their projects in Thu Thiem.

 

According to CBRE Vietnam, located across the Saigon River from District 1, Thu Thiem is ideally located to become the Pudong of Ho Chi Minh City. Transportation to and from the Thu Thiem peninsula from District 1, District 9, Thu Duc District and the rest of District 2 is very simple. Recognizing this important feature of Thu Thiem, the local government introduced a development plan for the area in 1997.

 

Currently, 99% of land has been cleared and Thu Thiem can immediately offer 382 hectares of residential space for 26,618 apartments and another 334 hectares of commercial space. Upon completion, Thu Thiem will have a resident population of 150,000 with a daily working population of 220,000.

 

Commenting on the potential of Thu Thiem, Marc Townsend, Managing Director of CBRE Vietnam, said: “The development of Thu Thiem offers an opportunity to connect the eastern bank of the river with the rest of the city. Possessing a large land bank, this is an ideal location for the development of a new financial, commercial and residential centre for HCMC. The need for a new central business district (CBD) is becoming even more urgent as the existing CBD is running short of land for development."