HCMC retail space to double by 2013

Ho Chi Minh City(HCMC) will see its retail space double to 740,000 square meters by 2013 as the scramble to build in the southern commercial hub continues.

Construction of Bitexco Financial Tower in District 1 is in the final stages, with Bitexco, its owner, racing to open it in October. The tower will have more than 20,000 square meters of retail space.

Capitaland Group Vietnam & RF Chandle are also speeding up construction of The Vista in District 2 to finish it by the end of 2010. It will add 14,000 square meters to the market.

More shopping malls are slated to open in the near future. Taiwan’s Pau Jar Group will open The Flemington Mall in District 11 in the first quarter of next year. The Crescent Mall in District 7 is under construction and is expected to be finished by the end of next year or early 2012.

Vincom Company is set to begin work on its Times Square in District 1, with its schedule depending on land acquisition, which is under way.

Others in the works are Saigon M&C, Tan Phong Shopping Complex, and Sunrise City in District 1, Metropolis, Sport City, and Thao Dien Pearl in District 2, and Saigon Pearl in Binh Thanh District in 2012.

Malaysian Berjaya Group is drawing up plans to build the Saigon Financial Center in District 10 by 2013.

Richard Leech, managing director of CB Richard Ellis, a real estate consultancy, said with the supply increasing sharply in the next three years, it is difficult to predict how the market will pan out.

It will depend on the economy, he said.

However, retail sales in the city has consistently risen by 20% a year annum since 2005, and by nearly 35% in the first five months of 2010, newswire Vnexpress quoted Truong An Duong of another property consultant, Savills, as saying.

Foreign retail groups have realized the market has bright prospects and are going ahead with strategies to develop distribution networks in major cities, he said, adding this will have an impact on the market and rentals. – Tuoitre

Tags: Vietnam retail market, Vietnam retail spaces