Investors await Saigon backpacker area property auction result

A new high school will be built to replace the existing Ernst Thalmann High School, which is located in the Pham Ngu Lao-Nguyen Thai Hoc-Tran Hung Dao junction
Four consortia are awaiting the result of a multimillion dollar government auction of prime property in Ho Chi Minh City’s backpacker area.
The successful bidder will win the development rights to a 1.3 hectare parcel of land in the so-called “golden triangle” between Tran Hung Dao, Pham Ngu Lao and Nguyen Thai Hoc streets in District 1.
Bids on the land closed in December and the result was expected to be announced in January.
But the announcement was postponed after one of the bidding groups complained to the city’s administration about the bid assessment process.
According to the auction council, the bidders were scored on a scale of 100 with financial capacity accounting for 50 points and development ideas 30 points.
The bidding documents also say that “the investor considered winning the auction is the one which is short-listed, has a bid above the floor price and has the highest total committed financial assistance for the city’s treasury.”
The city plans to develop this area into a building complex.
The auction winner will be responsible for relocating people out of the area and building a new high school to replace the existing Ernst Thalmann High School.
The new development is supposed to be completed within five years of the relocation of the local residents
and the completion of the new school construction.
The auction council was chaired by Thai Van Re, director of the city’ Planning and Investment Department.
Other council members are senior officials of the departments of city planning and architecture, construction and finance.
Assistance fund
After the auction, one of the bidding consortia, comprised of Khanh Gia, Ssangyong, Doosan and Punkyung, asked the auction council to clarify the definition of an “assistance fund.”
Khanh Gia Company, representing the consortia, asked the council to specify whether the group that lodged the highest bid would win regardless of other requirements or whether the bidder that promised the most assistance funding would win the bid.
The company said if the assistance fund was a key factor in the auction committee in deciding the winning bid, the consortium would contribute additional assistance funds.
Nguyen Dac Toan, a representative of the auction council told Thanh Nien on Friday that the council had replied to Khanh Gia’s concerns directly.
The city’s Justice Department had looked into the bidding procedures and would report to the HCMC People’s Committee soon, Toan said.
Toan said the bidding document clearly stated treasury assistance funds were not obligatory.
Investors, therefore, would have to meet all other requirements, he said