Singaporean property developer Keppel Land and its local partners
broke ground on Nov. 24 on a 160 million USD multipurpose complex in
HCM City 's district 1.
This development is the second
phase of the Saigon Centre at 65 Le Loi street . The centre is a
project by Keppel Land Watco and its Vietnamese partners, the Southern
Waterborne Transportation Corporation (SOWATCO) and the Saigon Real
Estate Corporation (RESCO).
Once fully completed in 2015,
the Saigon Centre Phase 2 will have 45 storeys, according to Choo Chiau
Beng, chairman of Keppel Land . There will be seven floors for
retail and dining space covering 50,000sq.m, 40,000sq.m of grade A
office area and over 200 serviced apartments.
New York-based NBBJ, a leading global architecture and design firm, has been selected as lead designer of the second phase.
The existing 25-storey Saigon Centre, which began operation in 1996,
has 89 serviced apartments and three car parking basements apart from
around 12,000sq.m of office and retail space.
Keppel
Land 's portfolio in Vietnam covers 17 projects in Hanoi , HCM
City , Dong Nai and Vung Tau with a total investment capital of almost 2
billion USD. /.