Vu Nhom’s notorious real estate projects

Phu Gia Compound at 126 Ong Ich Khiem street

Phan Van Anh Vu (43, Vu Nhom) owned several companies, including I.V.C Co., Ltd., 79 Construction JSC, and Bac Nam 79 JSC, as well as held significant stakes at other companies. He has been the owner of many prime land plots in Danang, most of which used to be public land.

He has two well-known restaurants on Bach Dang Street, located along the Han River. The most notable project in his hands in Danang is Phu Gia Compound, which sprawls on an area of 20,093sq.m at 126 Ong Ich Khiem Street, at Thanh Khe district.

In 2006, Danang city approved the initial price of VND100 billion ($4.4 million) to auction this land, but no buyers registered. However, instead of staging another auction at a discounted price in compliance with regulations, the land was allocated directly to Nguyen Quang Thanh, the brother of Vu Nhom.

Later, Vu took over the whole area to implement the Phu Gia Compound project. This project has been done and launched on the market, offering villas at the price of $255-616,000 per unit.

The Da Phuoc international urban area is investigated for various violations (Photo: PLO)

Among the nine projects where Vu Nhom was involved, two are under investigation. The first one is the Da Phuoc international urban area, which takes up 210ha in Thuan Phuoc ward, Hai Chau district and was initially developed by Daewon Co., Ltd., a South Korean firm.

This project was kicked off in 2008 to construct a resort, hotel, 18-hole golf course, apartment buildings, shophouses, villas, an international school, and a club with the total investment of $250 million.

Daewon spent about $40 million on developing this project, including reclaiming a large land area from the sea, constructing breakwaters, and forming the initial infrastructure. In 2016, Daewon transferred the project to Sunrise Bay Co., Ltd. of Vu Nhom. Since then, Vu Nhom has already divested all his capital from the project.

This project contained several violations, such as not submitting the environmental impact assessment report, the appraisal report on fire prevention and fire fighting, as well as having amended the project without the prime minister’s approval.

The seaside restaurant that was launched in 2015

The second project under investigation is a restaurant on the marina area at the southern estuary of the Han River in Thach Thang ward, on an area of 3,000sq.m. The project is being developed by I.V.C Co., Ltd. since December 2015 and has been completed.

This January 31, leaders of the city worked with the developer to recover the project and turn it into public works.

The kindergarten is managed by Phan Thi Anh Thu, the sister of Vu "Nhom"

An Don Park has become a 3,600sq.m kindergarten at An Hai Bac ward, which was initially developed by I.V.C Co., Ltd. and is now managed by Phan Thi Anh Thu, the sister of Vu Nhom. This school was inaugurated on July 29, 2017 with the total investment of VND200 billion ($8.8 million).

Harbour Ville Riverside Danang in Son Tra district

Harbour Ville Riverside Danang, located on an area of 13.6ha, has constructed the foundations of 360 villas and a shopping center. Transactions here are still hot despite the project being under investigation.

The coastal tourism area project has been abandoned since 2007

Coastal tourism areaat Truong Sa Street in Ngu Hanh Son district has been developed by I.V.C Co., Ltd. since 2007. The project was allocated land by the Danang People's Committee in 2007 but has seen little works since then.

The corner of 2 Thang 9 and Phan Thanh Tai Street now houses a petrol station, while the land behind is empty

The Danang People’s Committee’s sales of public land have shown so violations that the investigation agency under the Ministry of Public Security asked the People’s Committee to provide transaction documents for 31 public houses and land plots, as well as the nine projects related to Phan Van Anh Vu.

The nine projects related to Vu Nhom:

• An Don Park;
• Harbour Ville urban area (managed by Mega Investment JSC);
• Area at corner of 2 Thang 9 and Phan Thanh Tai Street;
• Phu Gia Compound in Thanh Khe district;
• Restaurant-café-bar tourism and marina area;
• Da Phuoc international urban area;
• No.12 - B4.1 in the An Cu residential area expansion in Son Tra district;
• Phu Gia Villa Compound in Cam Le district;
• Coastal tourism area at Truong Sa Street in Ngu Hanh Son district.

The 31 houses and land plots in Danang that used to be public property:

• No. 7,16,20,36,38,86,158,100 Bach Dang Street, and 38 Bach Dang extended street;
• No. 17,57,318,319 Le Duan Street;
• No. 81,89,354 Hung Vuong Street;
• No. 45,47,49,73 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street;
• No. 106 Tran Phu Street;
• No. 37,39 Pasteur Street;
• No. 2 Hai Phong Street;
• No. 82 Tran Quoc Toan Street;
• No. 107 Hoang Hoa Tham Street;
• No. 22 Co Giang Street;
• No. 32 Le Hong Phong Street;
• No. 34 Hoang Van Thu Street;
• No. 11 Pham Hong Thai Street;
• No. 121 Phan Chau Trinh Street.