Delays likely in office building projects

July 07, 2011 | 09:32

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Office building projects scheduled to enter the market from 2013 onward show signs of delay in Ho Chi Minh City, according to a property service consultant.

SJC Tower

Chris Currie, associate director for office services of the real estate services provider CBRE Vietnam, said projects including SJC Tower and BIDV Tower, both in the downtown area, showed no signs of construction on the site.

Meanwhile, only test piling was underway for the Sai Gon Centre Phase 2 and basements in progress for the Vietcombank tower.

Almost 541,000 square metres of office space of grade A and B were planned to enter the market in 2013.

Work on projects scheduled for 2012, which may reach a total of 299,000sq.m., is going ahead, according to Currie.

He cited the Time Square complex with around 9,000 sq.m. of office space, which had its topping off in June. Completion was expected in 2012's first quarter.

Another project, the M&C Tower, will have its topping off in August and completion will be in the second quarter next year. It will offer 50,000sq.m for office space.

This year, there will be no Grade A office project put in operation, but around 188,000sq.m of Grade B will become available, according to CBRE's statistics.

Currently, Grade A office buildings have an average occupancy rate of 95 per cent, except the newly put-in-use Bitexco Financial Tower and Vincom Tower. The rate for Diamond Plaza and Me Linh Point Tower are 100 per cent each.

Currie, however, said the market in the first six months was slower than the same period in 2010, with absorption falling to almost 68,000sq.m from 130,000sq.m respectively.

There are more than 1.7 million sq.m in stock, and landlords are offering incentives including some rent-free periods and free parking charges, among others.