KepLand starts work on office levels of Saigon devt (Amended)

KEPPEL Land on Thursday said that it is progressing into the next phase of developing its 42-storey Saigon Centre Phase Two with work starting on 37 storeys of offices and serviced apartments in its landmark mixed-use development in Ho Chi Minh City.

The retail podium, currently under construction, has a pre-commitment of about 40 per cent. Anchor tenant Takashimaya will house its first department store in Vietnam here, taking up about 15,000 square metres. The retail podium comprises five levels of retail space, and the 37-storey office tower is above this five-storey retail podium.

Saigon Centre Phases One and Two are jointly owned by Keppel Land, Toshin Development and Vietnamese partners Southern Waterborne and Transportation Corporation and Saigon Real Estate Corporation. Keppel Land holds a 45.3 per cent stake in the development.

Keppel Land last month announced that it will divest its one-third stake in Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 3 to Keppel Reit for S$1.248 billion.

The divestment will enable it to recycle capital to reinvest in other commercial projects in its core markets, Vietnam being one of them, it had said.

Linson Lim, president (Vietnam) of Keppel Land, reiterated this on Thursday, adding that Saigon Centre Phase Two will help to meet the demand for prime office and retail space in HCMC.

Keppel Land said that there is currently a limited supply of quality office space in the area's central business district. As at end-March 2014, there were only 190,000 sqm of Grade A offices of the estimated 1.6 million sqm of office space.

TheSaigon Centre Phase Two will comprise 40,000 sqm of premium Grade A office space,50,000 sqm of retail space and about 200 units of luxury serviced apartments. Its total investment cost will be about US$255 million (S$325.1 million).

Phase One is currently 95 per cent leased to several diplomatic corps, multinational companies, as well as banking and financial institutions including DBS Bank, AIG, Reuters, Mitsubishi Corporation, and IE Singapore. Its 4,000 sqm retail mall is fully leased.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Saigon Centre Phase Two has four storeys of retail space. It should be five storeys. The article above has been revised to reflect this.