S.Korean investor eyes five-star hotel project in Binh Dinh
S.Korean investor eyes five-star hotel project in Binh Dinh
South Korean firm Hana E&C Co., Ltd. intends to build a five-star hotel at a prime location in the south-central province of Binh Dinh. This site was previously owned by the family of the late banker Tran Bac Ha.
Nguyen Bay, director of the Investment Promotion Center of Binh Dinh Province, told the Saigon Times on Tuesday that the Korean firm was in talks with provincial Vice Chairman Phan Cao Thang and leaders of local departments and agencies last week.
During the meeting, Hana E&C expressed its interest in the five-star hotel project in Quy Nhon City, the capital of the province. The 39-storey hotel requires an investment of some US$150 million.
Hana E&C officials said they sought to develop the project on a one-hectare plot of land along An Duong Vuong Street, Nguyen Van Cu Ward in Quy Nhon City. One part of the site, which is adjacent to the sea, has already been cleared by the provincial government.
Local authorities set out criteria to auction the rights for use of this land for five decades. The site is to develop a high-end four to five star hotel. The total minimum investment stands at some VND1.5 trillion (US$65 million).
Bay, from the provincial Investment Promotion Center, said investors seeking to build a hotel at this site are required to participate in an auction.
At the meeting, provincial Vice Chairman Phan Cao Thang told Hana E&C to prepare a dossier for the auction.
Founded in Vietnam in 2013, Hana E&C, formerly known as Han Plan A&C, was involved in the construction of Keangnam Landmark in Hanoi, Hue Central Hospital in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, the 37-storey Blooming Tower in the central coastal city of Danang, and a Lotte Mart supermarket in Danang.
In 2016, the Binh Dinh government handed over the site to a consortium of Thien Hung Import and Export Co., Ltd. and An Phu Group. Thien Hung is owned by Tran Lan Phuong, the daughter of the late banker Tran Bac Ha, while his son, Tran Duy Tung, is in charge of An Phu Group.
The consortium was expected to build a high-end hotel, trading and apartment complex at a cost of VND2.9 trillion. However, the provincial authority suspended the project, as the investor failed to follow procedures according to a stated schedule.
Their father Ha served as chairman of State-run Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) for more than eight years, until his retirement in 2016, and was viewed as one of Vietnam’s most powerful bankers.
He died while in detention on July 18 this year, aged 63, on alleged charges of violating banking rules.
Binh Dinh has become a new tourist destination, thanks to its 134-kilometer coastline. Provincial authorities aim to develop local tourism into a key economic sector, so they have called for investors, especially foreigners, to develop the area’s technical and social infrastructure.
