New second city plaza underway

The two-tower complex will house 276 luxury apartments

The two-tower Hung Vuong Plaza will be built in the heart of the city’s Chinatown. Each tower will have 29 storeys, with 276 luxury apartments for sale on the eighth to 29th floor.
The three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartments will cover 117 to 128 square metres and have been designed to international standards.
When it is finished in early 2006, the complex will have a swimming pool, a playground, day care facilities and a gym.
More than 40,000sqm have been set aside for retail and entertainment facilities.
Kinh Do department store will occupy the first seven floors of the plaza, which will have luxury shops, offices, 20 restaurants and cafes, and five cinemas with a combined 1,500 seats.
The director of real estate company Chesterton Petty Vietnam, in charge of managing and marketing the project, said the Kinh Do department store was “a shopping paradise”.
“With so much on offer, the public will come from all over the city just to shop and have fun,” Brett Ashton said.
“Our goal is to create a fun and exciting environment for the whole family to enjoy. There is something for everyone at Kinh Do department store,” he said.
The department store has so far attracted 10 tenants, including Phu Nhuan Jewellery Company (PNJ), Thai Tuan Textile Company, Viet Fashion, Triumph International Vietnam and Phuong Nam Cultural Products company.
Some 20 per cent of the department store’s area is expected to be occupied one month before the opening date.
Designed by Hong Kong-based Chesterton Petty Design Partners Company, the Hung Vuong Plaza is being developed by four Vietnamese companies: Saigon 5 Trading and Construction Company, M&C Joint Stock Company, Kinh Do Corporation and Lam Phan.
The Eastern Asia Commercial Bank (EAB) has signed agreements with investors to provide loans to tenants in the Kinh Do department store.
Tenants can borrow up to 50 per cent of the cost over 10 years at an interest rate equal to their 12-month deposit rate plus 0.25 per cent monthly by Vietnamese dong, and at a fixed rate of 6 per cent per year by gold.
EAB general director Tran Phuong Binh said his bank would consider providing loans to apartment buyers for periods of up to 15 years.