Hanoi inspects high-rise built near Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

The Kinh Do Tower, with 18 floors above ground and four basements, is situated at 8B Le Truc Street in Ba Dinh District, close to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

The developer of the mixed-use high-rise is Kinh Do TCI Group, a Hanoi-based real estate business that was licensed to build it last year, according to news website VietNamNet.

The building is now in the stage of completion and is expected to be put into operation by the end of this year, the newswire reported.

The inspection, conducted in accordance with a directive by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, is aimed at checking if the developer follows regulations on architecture, investment, and construction, said Nguyen Quoc Hung, deputy chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee.

The inspection team is led by the director of the Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture, who is aided by a group from the Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Department of Construction, and the Ba Dinh People’s Committee.

A source told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the implementation of the project was green-lighted by the Department of Construction in March 2014.

The building has 18 floors that are 53 meters high and four basements that are 16 meters underground.

Of the above-ground floors, five are for a trade center, 12 for offices for lease and high-class apartments for sale, and the other for technical operations.

The Ministry of Construction has already made urban planning for the central area of Ba Dinh District, so the inspection team is to examine the grounds on which the license-issuing agency allowed the investor to build the complex with such a number of floors, said Pham Sy Liem, former Deputy Minister of Construction and former deputy chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee.

“The team has to clarify whether the project has been developed in accordance with the ministry’s planning and if the developer or the license-issuing agency has committed any wrongdoing related to the project,” Liem said.

According to the approved master plan for Hanoi as well as the detailed planning for Ba Dinh District, multistory buildings in the area where the Kinh Do Tower is located are allowed to have no more than 11 floors, VietNamNet reported.

The top part of the tower is about 400 meters away from the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum as the crow flies, according to VTC News.