Spate of multi-million real estate projects left unfinished in Dong Nai

Photo source :enternews.vn

Many of these major projects, however, saw little progress since their deployment.

Topping the list of Dong Nai’s capital-intensive real estate projects is $750 million Vietnamese-Singaporean joint venture project Waterfront City occupying nearly 367 hectares.

Despite being licensed in April 2008, the project is still at the ground levelling and infrastructure development stage.

Next to Waterfront City is the $519 million Aqua City project covering a 305 hectare (ha) area. Similarly to Waterfront, Aqua City is also a joint venture project, between Vietnamese and UK partners.

This project, although getting its investment certificate in 2008, is in a similar state to Waterfront City. Both projects are part of the 1,500ha Long Hung new urban area’s master plan.

According to Bui Thanh Truc, chairman and general director of Dong Nai Agriculture Services Cooperative Union (DonaCoop), Waterfront and Aqua City are two of five component projects belonging to Long Hung’s new urban area. Once completed, the projects will form a complete urban development with a full set of top-ranking facilities and services, offering about 3,000 land plots and 500 apartments especially catering to offer foreign experts expected to enter the market in 2016.

DonaCoop is one of the developers of Long Hung new urban area development project.

In actuality, more than seven years since being licensed, the developers of Waterfront and Aqua City have only managed to complete some roads at the project sites and are still occupied with ground levelling—making the big 2016 sales promises rather unlikely.

Similarly, the $400 million Dai Phuoc Lotus project still stands at infrastructure development phase after receiving its investment certificate more than eight years ago.

The project was to form part of the 465ha Dai Phuoc eco-resort project developed by Singapore-backed VinaCapital and local partner DIC.

From 2012 until present, Dong Nai has revoked the investment certificates of about 20 real estate projects due to the developers’ failure to carry out the proper project implementation, reported newswire dddn.com.vn.

Nguyen Van Long, an investor living in Bien Hoa city, shared that during 2008-2009, provincial land prices jumped three to four-fold following the construction of the major Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway, which crosses the province, and the National Assembly approval to build Long Thanh International Airport in the province.

Property developers have launched a string of major projects in anticipation of a new investment wave. Speculative investors also flocked to Dong Nai for land plot purchases, waiting for making profits on the long run.

“When the real estate bubbles burst, ‘runaway’ investors like me incurred remarkable losses. Secondary investors are now extremely wary of residential projects in the province,” Long said.