Thien Thanh to build multipurpose project in Danang

The Ho Chi Minh City-based corporation says it will set aside some $750 million to turn the current Chi Lang football stadium into a multipurpose property project, which covers some six hectares and is surrounded by Hung Vuong, Trieu Nu Vuong, Le Duan and Ngo Gia Tu streets in Danang.

The developer says the first phase development will include a commercial center for auto services and a center for building materials and decoration facilities. The second phase will follow with a 60-storey building which is designed with sections for commercial services, office spaces, apartments, a hotel, school and hospital.

The project’s first phase is due to be completed by April next year with the entire project to be finished by 2016, contributing significant office and retail spaces to the Danang property market.

Currently there are 25 commercial buildings in the city, providing some 77,000 square meters of office spaces as of the end of the first quarter of this year.

According to CB Richard Ellis Vietnam, the office market in Danang witnessed the average rent across the market dropping some 7.5 per cent compared with the previous quarter, in which Grade B rents declined 6.0 per cent and Grade A rents remained flat.

The first quarter saw no new Grade A or Grade B space delivered in the market, and average rents were some $19 per square meter for Grade A, some $13.5 for Grade B and some $10 for Grade C.

Occupancy rate was around 62 per cent in the first quarter, increasing some 7 percentage points against the previous quarter thanks to large leasing transactions from new government projects.

Meanwhile, rental rates in the Danang retail market rose slightly as shopping centers recorded an increase of 6.7 per cent in rent to some $30 per square meter as compared with the previous quarter.

However, occupancy in the first quarter dropped 2.5 percentage points to 93.7 per cent as some retailers returned their space.

According to CBRE, the Danang retail market was divided into two sectors including supermarkets, which account for a large proportion of modern retail and target a wide range of consumers, and shopping centers which target up-market shoppers.

Currently supermarkets and shopping centers are providing some 73,000 square meters to the city’s retail market, and the supply is expected to see two new shopping centers, namely the World Trade Center and Golden Square projects, provide some 50,000 square meters and 20,000 square meters respectively from 2012 to 2014.

CBRE projected that the future office supply in the Danang market would triple by the end of 2014.