Unveiled: 65-storey tower plan drawing board

The tallest building in Vietnam currently is the 33-storey Saigon Trade Centre in Ho Chi Minh City.

Project developers, France’s Coralis SA and LOHR Industrie, plan to invest $114.6 million in the new tower, to be named the Hanoi City Complex.
“This office and apartment building will be constructed to international standards and quality to attract high-end tenants, both foreign and Vietnamese,” the president of LOHR Industrie Vietnam, Kim Joo-Sung told Vietnam Investment Review.
“The project will satisfy the ever-increasing demand for luxury offices and apartments.”
Coralis, the project representative named on the investment licence application, proposed a 49-year lifespan for the project, with $53 million in entirely foreign-owned legal capital. Germany’s B&O Hightex has been selected as the contractor.
Kim said construction would begin as soon as the project had the approval of the ministry.
“The development’s construction timeline and inauguration dates depend on the licensing authority,” he said.
If approved, the skyscraper would tower above the Daewoo Hotel on Lieu Giai Street, in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh district and would be welcome relief for Hanoi’s office and apartment leasing market, which has not seen any new foreign investments since 2001.
Poor demand and reduced rents following the 1997 Asian economic crisis have discouraged foreign developers.
However, the market has picked up considerably over the past few years with most operating buildings reporting occupancy of more than 90 per cent, according to surveys by realtors CB Richard Ellis and Chesterton Petty. The office leasing market has seen new players enter the game, mostly Vietnamese developers with little experience in property market, that are building the 20,000 square metre Ocean Park Building and 80,000sqm Vincom City Towers.
The 35,000sqm Ever Fortune Plaza, licensed more than 10 years ago, is the only foreign-invested property under construction. The project became 100 per cent foreign-owned three years ago.
The only new serviced apartment building in Hanoi is the 31-unit Hanoi Lake View, a hotel project that had been stalled for a long time, but opened one year ago following ownership



restructure and a change of building design.
LOHR Industrie has also been pursuing mono-rail projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Kim is also the authorised representative of Singapore’s Sun Investment and Consulting, which recently

submitted plans for a horticultural project in the northern province of Vinh Phuc.
The project blueprint states that total investment capital for the first phase would amount to $35 million, including $7 million in legal capital.
“The main purpose of this project is to cultivate flowers and trees for export. A majority of the investment will be directed toward developing that business,” Kim said, adding that a supplemental component of the project would be “Silver Town,” a residence for the elderly.
“If this is successful, we plan to expand it and inject additional capital of $50m.”
According to the project blueprint, the project’s duration is slated at 49 years, with a first phase of 10 years. Additional capital would be available in the following five years.