City names Keppel Land developer of resettlement area

13:50' 23/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – A consortium comprising the Singapore-based Keppel Land and domestic realty firm Tien Phuoc has been named developer of a resettlement area in HCMC's District 2 for households affected by key projects in the city, including the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project.
An official of the HCMC government told the Daily on Monday that the consortium has been named developer of a project to build 1,886 apartments and a park in the city's eastern district. The project covers 17.3 hectares encompassing two wards An Phu and Binh Khanh.
Under the city's decision, Keppel Land and its Vietnamese partner will use their own funds for completely building apartments and the park, and then transfer the project to the city government for using as resettlement houses for key projects.
In return, the city will allocate a land plot of 30 hectares for the two investors for developing a residential area. The land plot is part of the Nam Rach Chiec Residential Area, which totally covets 90 hectares in An Phu Ward.
The consortium is also asked to provide fund for building infrastructure facilities for the remaining 60 hectares of the Nam Rach Chiec area as well as building 200 sample houses for the resettlement area in Nam Rach Chiec.
This method, often referred to as "land in exchange for infrastructure," has been seen in several other projects, such as the cost-intensive project to develop the Tan Son Nhat-Binh Loi-outer beltway and elevated roads.
The city authorities also asked the Department of Finance to work with relevant agencies to compare the funds that the consortium will spend developing 1,886 apartments for the affected families and a park on 17.3-hectare area, and the market-based value of 30 hectares in the residential area in Nam Rach Chiec.
Besides, District 2 and other departments of Urban Planning-Architecture, Construction, Environment-Natural Resources, Finance, Planning-Investment and Transport and Public Works are also told to support the investors in preparatory stage for the project.
Last July, Keppel Land joined forced with two local partners to develop a township in Dong Nai Province. The total investment for the first stage of the 193-hectare project is estimated at over US$600mil.
The Singapore-based realty developer has recently also entered into joint ventures to develop luxury condominiums on an 8.5-hectare site along the Ca Cam River in Saigon South and a 1.7-hectare waterfront residential project by the Saigon River in Binh Thanh District.
Another residential development in progress in HCMC by Keppel is The Estella, a 4.8-hectare site located in An Phu Ward in District 2. This is part of Keppel Land's first residential township, Saigon Sports City, which is an integrated residential, commercial and recreational sporting hub on a 64-hectare area in HCMC's An Phu Ward, District 2.
In Hanoi, Keppel Land has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop two residential townships, one in Long Bien District and one in Dong Anh District.