Close-up of the 'diamond' location high-rise building that Truong My Lan requested to continue investing in

After a long period of being "shelved", the IFC One Saigon project may have new movement when from inside the prison, Ms. Truong My Lan sent a petition to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee asking for continued investment.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction has just issued a document informing about the progress of the two high-rise projects IFC One Saigon and One Central HCM - buildings that were expected to be architectural symbols of the center of Ho Chi Minh City but have been abandoned for many years, causing loss of urban beauty.

According to the Department of Construction, the City People's Committee has received a request from Ms. Truong My Lan (Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, currently detained) to continue investing and completing the IFC One Saigon project. The city then forwarded this request to the Department of Construction, the Department of Finance and the People's Committee of Saigon Ward for consideration and handling according to regulations.

The Department of Construction is coordinating with relevant departments, branches and units to appraise and advise on handling directions according to authority and in accordance with legal regulations.

The IFC One Saigon project (formerly Saigon M&C Tower) is located at 34 Ton Duc Thang, Saigon Ward (formerly District 1), right at the intersection of Ham Nghi - Vo Van Kiet - Ton Duc Thang, considered a "diamond" location in the center of Ho Chi Minh City. However, according to the VTC News Electronic Newspaper reporter, the inside of the building is currently used as a parking lot, with no significant construction activities.

The project was licensed in 2008, with an investment capital of about 256 million USD, planned to include office buildings, luxury apartments, serviced apartments and a commercial center. After completing about 80% of the rough construction, the project stopped in 2012. During the "shelved" period, the project changed shareholders many times and was mortgaged at Maritime Bank and DongA Bank with a total outstanding debt of more than 7,000 billion VND - becoming one of the largest bad debts of the banking system.

In 2017, VAMC seized the building and put it up for auction, but no investors participated. In 2021, Viva Land emerged as a new developer, renaming the project IFC One Saigon. In August 2022, the project's exterior glass was replaced to ensure safety and aesthetics, but the interior construction was still suspended pending the inspection's conclusion. After Ms. Truong My Lan was arrested, the project continued to be "inactive" until now.

Regarding the One Central HCM complex project (formerly known as The Spirit of Saigon, also known as Ben Thanh Quadrangle) - located opposite Ben Thanh market, the Department of Construction said that the City People's Committee has issued an official dispatch to adjust the investment project, allowing an extension of the implementation progress by 48 months, and at the same time assigned the Department of Construction to guide the investor to complete the procedures for implementation according to legal regulations.

One Central HCM is located on a “golden” land with 4 street frontages: Pham Ngu Lao – Calmette – Le Thi Hong Gam – Pho Duc Chinh. The project is invested by Bitexco Group LLC, with an announced capital of about 500 million USD, and is oriented to develop into a complex of offices, trade, apartments, and 6-star hotels.

Construction began in 2012, completed the basement, and then stopped for many years. In mid-2020, the project was restarted, but by 2022 it was again stalled when the leaders of Van Thinh Phat Group were arrested.

At that time, Viva Land (part of the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem) took over and renamed the project Pearl, but then the Viva Land logo was removed from the construction site fence. At the end of 2023, Bitexco's capital in Saigon Glory Company Limited was transferred to Hanoi Phuong Dong Real Estate Company Limited, and recently the Masterise Homes nameplate reappeared on the fence as the new developer.

According to VTC News Electronic Newspaper reporters, inside the One Central HCM project area, a group of workers appeared to be carrying out construction on some small items.

New moves by Ho Chi Minh City are expected to open up opportunities to “revive” two projects once considered architectural symbols of the city center, which have been abandoned for more than a decade.

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/can-canh-cao-oc-vi-tri-kim-cuong-duoc-truong-my-lan-xin-tiep-tuc-dau-tu-ar986795.html