An ageing apartment block in Khánh Hội Ward in HCM City. The city will invite private investors to rebuild or renovate 19 such old buildings. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — HCM City plans to call for private investment to rebuild or renovate 19 ageing apartment buildings, as the southern economic hub accelerates efforts to address long-standing safety risks in its deteriorating housing stock.

The proposals come as Việt Nam’s largest city struggles with hundreds of old apartment blocks built decades ago, many before 1975, that have suffered from years of poor maintenance, overcrowding and limited funding for upgrades.

Several buildings have been deemed unsafe, forcing authorities to relocate residents and demolish unstable structures.

The Department of Planning and Architecture said it completed a review of zoning plans for the 19 sites and recommended new planning and architectural criteria to improve feasibility and attract developers.

Ten of the buildings have already been fully or partially vacated due to structural risks.

Many of the targeted sites sit on valuable land in HCM City’s former central districts, areas commonly known to residents as the old Districts 1, 3 and 4, which today form the downtown core.

These include buildings near major commercial streets such as Bùi Viện and Võ Văn Tần, where redevelopment interest is expected to be strong.

To make the projects financially viable, the city is proposing higher floor-area ratios and allowances for taller buildings.

Ward-level authorities have also been instructed to update detailed zoning plans to facilitate investment approvals.

In the area formerly known as Tân Bình District, three ageing buildings are slated for redevelopment. Two – Long Hưng and Tân Phước – may be rebuilt at up to 10 times their land area, while another site on Tân Châu Street could be rezoned for educational use.

In the former central districts, six buildings are included in the redevelopment push, such as the 155-157 Bùi Viện block, the 11 Võ Văn Tần building, the Trúc Giang apartments, and several dilapidated blocks in Khánh Hội Ward. Some projects could be rebuilt with floor-area ratios of up to 11 and heights of up to 30 storeys.

Another large cluster, the Ngô Gia Tự apartments in the area formerly known as District 10, has had one block demolished, though plans to rebuild the remaining structures have stalled for years.

The city will finalise planning indicators for the remaining nine sites as zoning updates progress.

HCM City has one of the largest concentrations of ageing apartment buildings in Việt Nam.

A citywide plan approved earlier calls for rebuilding 467 apartment blocks constructed before 1975 and additional buildings built between 1975 and 1994 that are now severely degraded. Many suffer from cracked foundations, leaking roofs, rusted steel frames and unsafe stairwells.

Sixteen buildings classified as Grade D (the most dangerous level) are a priority. Seven have already been vacated and demolished and will be rebuilt, while nine others will be repaired or reconstructed.

The city aims to complete the reconstruction of all pre-1975 apartment complexes, as well as severely damaged buildings from the 1975-1994 period, by 2035.

To encourage private investment, the city will subsidise 50 per cent of technical infrastructure costs (up to VNĐ10 billion per project) and 50 per cent of relocation expenses for affected residents – part of a broader push to accelerate long-delayed urban renewal. — VNS