Ho Chi Minh City construction report

The HCMC Metro and Transport Oriented Development, the many boxy blue towers, Saigon is getting a Nobu, the Thu Thiem New Urban Area is showing signs of life, and bridges update.

This is the annual Ho Chi Minh City construction report, covering updates on major construction and transport projects over the last year (2024).

The HCMC Metro opens and the era of the Transport Oriented Development (TOD) begins

The highlight of 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City was the opening of the first metro line. Construction of Line 1 of the HCMC Metro began in August 2012, and it was initially planned to be finished by 2018. I have been watching it being built since 2012, so I was happy to finally see it open.

Opening day of the HCMC Metro

I will be doing a separate review of the metro with updates on future lines. For this report, I am covering the construction projects near each station.

After the metro opened, I visited every station on the line (14 stations). I’m putting together a guide for the metro stations, and I also wanted to take an inventory of apartment buildings within a 10-minute walk of each station.

There has already been an apartment boom near the three stations in former District 2 (now part of Thu Duc City). The area near Thao Dien, An Phu, and Rach Chiec stations has apartments near each station. I know people who have bought or rented here as far back as 2016, expecting the metro to be open soon, so they are now finally enjoying the benefit of being near a metro station.

Apartments between An Phu and Rach Chiec stations

There are fewer apartments near the stations between Phuoc Long and Suoi Tien Terminal. I’m curious to see how this corridor will develop in the years to come. I have been watching Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok become a canyon of apartment towers along the BTS Skytrain. There are no other lines under construction yet, so areas near the stations of Line 1 will become more developed.

The first apartment to sell itself as being convenient to the metro is the Metro Star project near Binh Thai Station.

Metro Star promotional image

The project includes a shopping mall with a cinema. The complex is next to the pedestrian bridge to the station, so it could be completely integrated with a walkway into the mall section.

There is a showroom for the project in District 3 with a scale model of the project.

Model of Metro Star project

Work had begun on the project and it had enough time to be completed before the metro opened. The project has since stalled, so they missed an opportunity to be ready for opening day.

Abandoned Metro Star project at Binh Thai Station

Another project that is selling the benefit of being near the metro is The 9 Stellars. There have been billboards around the city selling it as a transit-oriented development.

The 9 Stellars TOD

The 9 Stellars is near Suoi Tien Terminal Station at the end of the line. I walked to the project area to see how far it was from the station, and it was under 10 minutes. It’s a rough walk though as many of the streets are broken and dusty. I will assume that this area will be landscaped once the project is finished.

Walking from the station to The 9 Stellars

The website says “it takes The 9 Stellars residents only 2 minutes to get to the Metro station and a few minutes to District 1 and other central districts.” It would be 2 minutes by motorbike, and it’s over half an hour by metro to District 1. It’s always good to check these details for yourself before buying property.

Projects under construction

Here are some of the most prominent projects under construction in Ho Chi Minh City.

Marina Central Tower

Marina Central Tower

Marina Central Tower (formerly Sun Tower) is officially open for leasing, though they were still adding the finishing touches to the entrance at the time of this article. At 240 metres, this is now the 3rd tallest building in the city and only the third building over 200 metres.

Finishing touches to Marina Central Tower

The tower has staggered plates three-quarters of the way up the tower. This is meant to represent tiered rice fields, though I like to think of it as the tower protruding through a cloud. The original images show the plates as golden, which breaks up what is otherwise a monotonous blue glass tower. These plates look plain during the day, but they are lit up at night.

Grand Marina Saigon and the boxy blue wall of mediocrity

The Grand Marina Saigon riverside development is the largest Marriott-branded residences in the world. I’m not sure why Saigon needs that claim to fame, or if there is a market for so many serviced apartments, but we will soon find out as it is about to open.

Grand Marina Saigon

Grand Marina Saigon is at the old Ba Son shipyards, most of which have now been demolished. The Grand Marina name derives from this area being a former shipyard as there is no marina here that you would describe as grand.

Grand Marina Saigon features a row of boxy blue towers next to the boxy blue towers of the Vinhomes Golden River project. The prime riverfront land should have been an avenue of architecturally striking buildings, but now it’s just a row of boring boxy blue towers.

Vinhomes Golden River (left) and Grand Marina Saigon.

Saigon Centre Phase 3

New shopping podium and tower (right) of Saigon Centre Phase 3.

Saigon Centre is one of the largest office towers in the city and the mall is home to Takashimaya from Japan. The block behind Saigon Centre is being demolished to make way for a mall extension and a new tower. This includes the demolition of the former Public Works Service building.

Land clearance for Saigon Centre Phase 3.

Saigon is getting a Nobu

Nobu Ho Chi Minh Hotel and Restaurant

Nobu Ho Chi Minh Hotel and Restaurant was announced with a visit from Nobu Hospitality co-founders Robert De Niro (yes, the actor), and and celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa.

This was launched at the same time as Nobu Hotel Danang, though the Danang one is being billed as the first Nobu Hotel in Vietnam.

Nobu Ho Chi Minh (they’ve dropped the “City” from the name) is taking over the abandoned Viet Capital Bank Tower project in the Japantown area of District 1.

While I am glad to see that this unfinished eyesore is about to be restarted, I was hoping that they would have a new design for the building. It appears that they are taking over the old design, which is yet another boring blue glass tower. By comparison, Danang is getting more architecturally-interesting building.

Future Nobu at Viet Capital Bank Tower site

Thu Thiem New Urban Area

The Thu Thiem New Urban Area is on the other side of the Saigon River, opposite District 1. This prime location of mostly undeveloped land is supposed to become the financial centre of Ho Chi Minh City. It’s geographical similarities to Shanghai have had it likened to “the Pudong of Southeast Asia”. Unfortunately, this area has been bogged down in land title issues and other forms of strangulation by red tape.

Thu Thiem New Urban Area

Symbolic of this slow development is the stalled City Planning Exhibition Center of HCMC.

City Planning Exhibition Center – HCMC

This building has been left in an unfinished state for years, but now it seems that work has restarted after a decade.

Work restarting at Exhibition Center

One of the biggest projects in Thu Thiem is Lotte Eco Smart City. This project has had so many false starts, but there is now construction machinery on site.

Boarded-up area of Lotte Eco Smart City

Lotte has released an updated image of the project, which looks like a watered-down version of the original. They previously mentioned that they wanted to construct an iconic tower in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area and that it would become a prominent landmark of Asia. This latest image looks like a suburban office park with more unremarkable boxy blue towers.

Lotte Eco Smart City

The long-term goal of Thu Thiem has been to turn it into an international financial centre (thus the comparisons with Pudong in Shanghai). The government has recently recommitted developing Ho Chi Minh City into an international financial centre. They also said that the city must be distinctive and attractive. If that’s the case, may this era of boring blue towers come to an end.

Stalled projects

I keep a list of stalled projects on a separate page. Here is a list of projects that made the news over the last year.

One Central Saigon Complex

One Central Saigon Complex (previously One Central HCM, Saigon Glory, Spirt of Saigon) continues to be the biggest eyesore in the city centre. This two-tower project is opposite Ben Thanh market and part of the Ben Thanh metro station. There are two metro exits in this building, which should have been part of an underground shopping area. The two exits are only available for emergency use.

Abandoned One Central Saigon Complex

This project has been cursed by delays over the years. The latest delay is due to the project being connected to the $44bn fraud case by billionaire property developer Truong My Lan. She was sentenced to death in 2024 and has recently lost an appeal for the sentence. She can have her life spared by repaying 11 bill, which will involve offloading her property portfolio across the city.

The reports of how much was embezzled range from 11 billion to 44 billon USD. Even the banks don’t know exactly as there were over 1000 shell companies set up to distribute the funds. Some news outlets have made a list of the most prominent properties in her portfolio, but I haven’t seen a definitive list.

Until this case is cleared up, the stalled properties in her name will remain unfinished.

Notre-Dame Cathedral of Saigon

Notre Dame and Post Office

Notre Dame Saigon is one of the main landmarks of the city. The cathedral is next to the historic Saigon Post Office, and it is often used as a cover photo by airlines and travel agents when promoting the city.

Renovation began in 2017, and it was expected to take 2-3 years. The new estimate is for 2027. Meanwhile, the scaffolding has been put to good use by being covered in Christmas lights.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame in Paris has already finished its restoration after catching fire after Saigon began its restoration (it helps have loads of money).

Phan Dinh Phung Stadium

Phan Dinh Phung is a sports complex in District 3. The old complex was demolished in 2017 to make way for the new building. The land has been idle since then, leaving no sports facilities in the area.

The most recent announcement was that the project would begin construction before April 30, 2025.

Rach Chiec National Sports Complex

The Rach Chiec National Sports Complex marked the 30th anniversary since it was first planned.

The Rach Chiec National Sports Complex would give the city an international football stadium and other much-needed sports facilities. The location of the complex is opposite the Rach Chiec metro station, so access to the metro is ideal for holding big sporting events.

Bridges

One of the problems with the Thu Thiem New Urban Area is that it’s hard to get to as a pedestrian. This is set to change with a pedestrian bridge that will link the District 1 riverfront to Thu Thiem. This is another project that has been promised for years, so I shouldn’t get too excited until I see construction workers on site.

Saigon River Pedestrian Bridge

Bridges in HCMC have a habit of stalling midway through construction, so I should not get excited until it is finished. A high-profile stalled bridge is the Phuoc Khanh Bridge. This bridge will serve as a southern bypass of Ho Chi Minh City. It has a vertical clearance of 55 meters, making it the tallest bridge in Vietnam. The bridge is visible if you get the ferry to Vung Tau, and unfortunately, it remains in an abandoned state.

Phuoc Khanh Bridge

The Ba Son Bridge opened in 2022, yet for some reason they didn’t add lights. Every new building and bridge in Vietnam is covered in lights now, so this was an odd omission. Lights were finally installed at the end of 2024, adding more colour to the city skyline at night.

Ba Son Bridge at night