City skyline on the rise

Going up: Demand is still strong in the southern city’s property market

The officetel is a new concept in real estate development, combining office space with accommodation.
The $35 million Manor Officetel project is the first development of its kind in Vietnam, with BitexcoLand aiming to construct two apartment-like buildings with 456 office/residential units of 35, 50 and 148 square metres.
BitexcoLand said the officetel was an ideal base for businessmen and companies that wished to set up both offices and lodgings. The development will be self-contained with restaurants, cafes, fitness centres, central reception, and business support and administrative services.
Investors can purchase and lease out officetel units to foreign companies who may want to set up a representative office and residence.
BitexcoLand marketing director Le Phuong My Linh said the company has already sold more than 70 per cent of the units in the development, showing overwhelming investor confidence in the project.
The company began selling units in the development mid last year, at prices ranging from $1,200 to $1,700 per sqm. However, the developers soon halted sales due to strong buyer interest, with a view to selling the units later at higher prices.
The officetel is the second development phase of the Manor residential complex, which has sold 426 apartments since the end of last year.
Linh said most of the Manor residences have been sold, with only a handful of apartments left. Properties in the complex have fetched an average $1,600 per sqm.
BitexcoLand is also investing more than $100m to build a 68-storey office tower in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1. The development, scheduled for completion in 2008, will providing more than 100,000sqm of grade-A office space.
The company is also working on a plan to build a high-rise complex on a 10ha site in District 1 at the cost of half a billion dollars.
The plans have been unveiled at a time when most local developers in the second city have run out of cash for construction due to low buyer interest following the government’s implementation of a series measures intended to restore balance to the runaway real estate market.
Few local developers have launched new residential projects over the past year, with the Phu My luxury condominiums developed by Van Phat Hung Co. and Tien Phuoc Co.’s Estella development the exceptions.
However, consultants say as demand remains high the problems for inexperienced local developers are raising funds and winning buyer confidence at a time when banks are reluctant to make property loans.
Nguyen Ngoc Duong, deputy general director of Van Phat Hung, said the company had sold 86 per cent of the 480 units in its Phu My development since sales opened one month ago. Construction on the project will begin at the end of this month.
“The housing demand is still there,” said Duong. “If your project is unique, it will sell well.”
He said that most local developers spent little on design and landscaping, thus offering unattractive products to customers.
Van Phat Hung now has plans to build another luxury condominium complex, the Riverview, which will boast 1,568 apartments and cost a total of $73m. Duong said that although the company was able to go it alone on the project, it was still calling for foreign developers to join it in the project in an attempt to boost its reputation.



No. 762/May 22-28, 2006