HCM CITY — HCM City People’s Committee Chairman Nguyễn Thành Phong has approved a plan to auction the right to use nine so-called “golden” land plots in Thủ Thiêm new urban area in District 2 with total starting price of VNĐ27 trillion (US$1.18 billion).

Speaking to the media at a meeting held yesterday in the city, Võ Văn Hoan, chief of secretariat and spokesperson for the HCM City People’s Committee, said due to the large scale and importance of the project, the city would also call for foreign investors for the auction.

“Investors who win the auction must comply with the approved plan and function,” Hoan said, adding: “The auction of land aims to improve the city’s urban development for people to live better.” 

To be eligible, investors must ensure the project’s progress, prove management capacity and responsibility to develop the project with the surrounding area, accept deposits as collateral, and must mobilise capital well, Hoan told local media. 

“For example, investors of the Central Square in the new urban area must complete it on or before April 30, 2020,” Hoan said.

Representatives of the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said the auction process would follow the ministry’s Circular 14, which ensures an accurate measurement area and hires independent consulting companies to determine the prices at auction.

This would be submitted to the city People’s Committee before starting the auction, while the Department of Justice’s Auction Centre will be the auctioning unit.

The nine land plots for the auction are located in an area that is expected to be a highly dense multi-function commercial centre, according to city authorities.

Under the plan, towers will be built along Arc Avenue and Central Square, with building height gradually reduced towards the Sài Gòn River and the central lake.

Major public buildings include an exhibition centre, a museum, a building for a symphony orchestra, and a planning information centre.

Phong asked the management board of the new urban area to work with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and other agencies to approve the detailed plan (1/500 scale) and auction the land plots in accordance with current law.

The city leader also asked agencies to relocate religious establishments in the urban area (Thủ Thiêm Church and Thủ Thiêm Lovers’ Church), as well as acquire land where the existing Thủ Thiêm Primary School is located. This will be used by the investor to build a riverside park and riverside roads.

Covering a total area of 657 hectares, Thủ Thiêm new urban area is located on Thủ Thiêm peninsula in HCM City’s District 2, which faces downtown District 1 across Sài Gòn River.

Approved by the Government in 1996, the proposed financial district and mixed-use urban area of HCM City is set to become the largest inner-city development in Southeast Asia.

Thủ Thiêm will relieve some of the pressure the city currently faces. The infrastructure within the city’s existing central business district is starting to overload due to rapid growth during the last three decades, city authorities have said. 

According to a master plan, the new urban area has five main areas: the central core, the northern residential area, the residential area along Mai Chí Thọ Avenue, the eastern residential area, and the delta area in the south.

To develop such a project, it took more than 10 years for site clearance of most of Thủ Thiêm peninsula, with as many as 15,000 households being resettled.

In a document sent to the Prime Minister in 2015, the city authorities said total costs in the new urban area for clearance compensation and resettlement, technical infrastructure, and loan interest had reached more than VNĐ29 trillion ($1.27 billion).

Of the figure, about VNĐ12 trillion is from commercial credit institutions, resulting in an interest of around VNĐ2.9 billion per day.— VNS