Plan to auction guesthouse decried

The Ministry of Finance has approved a plan by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to auction the 3.7ha Government Guesthouse in downtown HCM City and use the proceeds to fund major projects not specified as yet.

However, experts have criticised the proposal, saying the complex, built in the 1950s, should be preserved for its historic, cultural and architectural value. Some have also argued that the complex acts as a rare green lung in an area largely devoid of trees.

The Finance Ministry is seeking information from municipal authorities about planning and architectural criteria for the area the guesthouse is located in to set an initial price for the property, a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper report said on Tuesday, citing Pham Dinh Cuong, head of the Finance Ministry’s Public Property Management Department.

Sitting on a prime location bordering Districts 1, 3, and 5, the Government Guesthouse is situated on the “Golden Triangle” at No. 1 Ly Thai To Street in Ward 1, District 10, facing Hung Vuong and Tran Binh Trong Streets.

The guesthouse, which has seven French-style villas covering 7,000 sq. metres and orchards with trees that are more than 50 years old, has been used to accommodate high-level foreign delegations on state visits to Viet Nam.

The sale of the property, which is operated and managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, can bring in thousands of billions of Vietnamese dong (VND1 billion US$47,600).

‘No high-rise ever’

In 1996, the guesthouse was listed among 108 buildings in HCM City to be preserved for their architectural value. The same year, the city administration asked the Chief Architect’s Office and the Centre for Social and Human Sciences Studies to collect data on the guesthouse complex for programming and urban management purposes.

Dr Le Quang Ninh of the Viet Nam Architects’ Association said the complex, which represents the architecture style of South Viet Nam before national reunification (in 1975), should remain unchanged.

He said the villas in the guesthouse complex should be used without any change in their structural and architectural styles.

Ninh said Viet Nam should learn from other countries where old-style villas are used as luxury hotels to accommodate wealthy guests.

“If the guesthouse is developed into a luxury hotel, the city will suffer no loss (in historic and cultural values), but gain revenue instead,” said Ninh.

Famous cultural researcher Nguyen Dinh Dau said the low-level structure of the villas and the greenery of the complex should be kept unchanged.

No high-rise building should ever be located in the complex, he said.

Nguyen Thanh Quy, a retired resident in District 10′s Ward 1, said the guest house was recognised as a “green lung” for the district that is densely populated and has very few trees.

If the complex is destroyed and a high-rise building is located in the area, District 10 residents would have lost a precious green resource, he said.

An unnamed architect from the HCM City Programming – Architecture Department, said the city should buy the guesthouse so that it can preserve a complex of historical and architectural value. Doing so would also help retain greenery that is badly needed in District 10 in particular and the city in general, he added. – VNS