Share
HANOI: Vietnam is poised to see a new iconic development take shape in 2015 as PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corporation (PVC) has announced plans for a 79-storey mixed-use tower christened the Viet Nam Oil & Gas Tower.
The development is expected to cost US$600 million and will feature offices, a trade centre and hotel as well as five levels below ground, Property Report South East Asia magazine said on Mar 29 citing Viet Nam News.
It will be built on a 6.5 ha (16.06 acres) site in Tu Liem district in the Vietnamese capital, although other media have reported that the site will be as large as 25 ha (61.7 acres).
The tower will be designed by US firm Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects who is also responsible for the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia.
According to VOVNews, the 79 stories was symbolic of the 79-year lifespan of North Vietnam's founder and leader Ho Chi Minh.
However, Thanh Nien newspaper reported that the height of the tower was revised down from 102 stories to cut costs as the project had an original estimated cost of US$1 billion.
The building will feature environmentally-friendly features and be able to withstand up to 7.0-magnitude tremblors.
PVC, the main investor of the project, said it intends to set up an investment joint-stock company to undertake the project with the O&G group as the main shareholder.
The group said the project will not be funded by the state and its holding company PetroVietnam and it instead plans to get Vietnamese and foreign financial institutions to invest in the project, which is expected to kick off next year.
PVC said it wants to tie up with foreign contractors such as South Korea's Hansin and Samsung groups for the project.
Currently, the tallest building planned for development in Vietnam is the 100-storey five-star hotel project by Kinh Bac City Development Corporation.
