New Keppel Land project bid rejected

Agtex is the local partner in the project

But the defence ministry that oversees Keppel’s local partner the Army Garment Import-Export Company (Agtex), has given the thumbs down to the proposal, a senior Agtex executive said last week.
“Two years have already passed since the 2001 deadline given for construction on the project site to commence. Therefore, the Ministry of Defence might soon recommend the Ministry of Planning and Investment dissolve this project,” the executive told Vietnam Investment Review.
Agtex contributes 40 per cent of the project’s investment capital through land-use rights; Keppel provides the rest.
Keppel Land said it would start development before the end of 2002 but building never got underway.
A Keppel representative said last year the company would not quit the project under any circumstances, backed by promising forecasts for apartment sales in the second city.
Construction on the Tamarind Park apartment block, located on Thai Van Lung, in District 1 began in late 1996. At that time, developers said the building, named after the tamarind trees which line many of the city’s streets, would be completed in two years.
However, the 1997 Asian financial crisis put a stop to construction.
According to the initial design, the 20-storey apartment building will have 173 one-, two- and three-bedroom units, a three-level car park, swimming pool and other recreational facilities.
In 1996, the original foreign partner, FITI of Hong Kong, withdrew from the project because of financial problems and Keppel Land bought its stake in the venture.
For its $31-million Saigon Riviera residential project, also in the second city, Keppel Land is seeking government permission to form a partnership with a new domestic investor.
The government early this year disallowed Keppel Land’s application to establish a joint venture with local firm Huy Hoang joint stock company for Saigon Riviera.
The 5.9ha Saigon Riviera, which involves development of apartments and villas for lease and sale, is to be in An Phu ward, District 2, right opposite the $130-million sport and commercial complex project of Hong Kong’s Chiap Hua, licensed in May this year.
Keppel Land has six licensed projects in Vietnam including the International Centre, an office building, and Sedona Suites service apartment buildings both in Hanoi, Saigon Centre, an office service apartment unit, and Tamarind Park in Ho Chi Minh City.
The property giant has pumped more than $200 million into its properties in Vietnam, becoming one of the country’s biggest foreign property investors.