What happened to the two recovered "golden" lands?

The hotel and mixed-use apartment complex under the planning of the province's centralized administrative area is located in a prime location but is still vacant. For the past 2 years, Hai Duong City has used this land to organize a spring flower market. Aerial photo from Thanh Nien Street

The land for the 5-star hotel and restaurant project in the province's centralized administrative area and the old office of the Hai Duong City Tax Department were reclaimed by the province in 2019. Up to now, the auction of the right to use these two "golden" lands has not been carried out.

The company does not carry out the project.

Many years ago, the 5-star hotel and restaurant project of more than 1.7 hectares in the province's centralized administrative area was one of the projects that received special attention from the public. The reason was that the province successfully auctioned the project in 2016. Hoang Phuc Investment and Management Company Limited (Hanoi) was the winning bidder with a price of more than VND 81.4 billion. The enterprise paid money to the state budget and was handed over the land by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (TNMT) in 2018. However, in early 2019, the enterprise requested to stop implementing the project and return the land to the province because the project was not feasible.

In 2019, the Provincial People's Committee revoked the land and revoked the land use right certificate granted to Hoang Phuc Investment and Management Company Limited; and assigned the Land Fund Development Center under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for management. In May 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued a decision approving the partial adjustment of the above land into a hotel and mixed-use apartment building area under the detailed planning for the construction of the concentrated administrative area of ​​Hai Duong province at a scale of 1/500.

After many years of closure, in April 2016, the old office of Hai Duong City Tax Department on Bach Dang Street, with an area of ​​over 500 m2, was decided by the Provincial People's Committee to lease to the Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank, Hai Duong branch, to carry out the project of renovating and building the office. The bank had to put the project into operation before December 31, 2016. However, this bank did not implement the project on schedule and requested to stop the project. In May 2019, the Department of Planning and Investment proposed and the Provincial People's Committee decided to terminate the project, revoke the investment policy decision, and hand over the land to the Land Fund Development Center for management.

Hai Duong has been focusing resources on investing in projects and works to create momentum for socio-economic development. Therefore, the province has a policy of auctioning recovered land to supplement capital for public investment projects. In 2021, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to develop a plan to auction recovered land. In November 2021, the Provincial People's Committee decided to establish a working group to urge the acceleration of land use rights auctions to increase revenue to the state budget. The working group is headed by Mr. Tran Van Quan, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Mr. Hoang Van Thuc, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, as Standing Deputy Head.

The implementation of the auction of the recovered land of Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank, Hai Duong branch on Bach Dang street (middle house) still has some problems.

Auction procedure in progress

Currently, relevant authorities of the province are performing assigned tasks to soon auction the above two land plots. Specifically, the People's Committee of Hai Duong City has completed the dossier proposing the investment policy and the form of selecting investors to implement the hotel and mixed-use apartment building project. On January 10, 2022, the People's Committee of Hai Duong City submitted a document to the Department of Planning and Investment for appraisal. According to the proposal, the construction project includes a 25-storey mixed-use apartment tower and 2 basements with a total floor area of ​​about 60,223 m²; 26-storey hotel building with 2 basements and a total floor area of ​​approximately 36,907 m²and auxiliary items... The total investment capital is expected to be over 2,525 billion VND. Currently, the Department of Planning and Investment is seeking appraisal opinions on the project proposal of the Hai Duong City People's Committee.

According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, in December 2021, the unit appraised and accepted the measurement and correction of the cadastral map of the land area for the hotel and mixed-use apartment project; completed updating and correcting the current land type code, the exploited land type code in the land use planning until 2030 and the land use plan for 2022. The Department has contacted a land valuation consultancy unit to proactively develop a draft of the starting land price plan. Currently, the Land Fund Development Center is developing a preliminary plan and preparing auction documents, and when qualified, it will submit it to the Provincial People's Committee for approval. According to the plan, in March 2022, the Land Fund Development Center will organize an auction of land use rights for this land area.

According to the reporter's investigation, the implementation of the auction of the recovered land of the Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank, Hai Duong branch, is currently facing difficulties. According to the zoning plan for the southern area of ​​Hai Duong city center at a scale of 1/2000 approved by the Provincial People's Committee in March 2021 and the land use plan until 2030 of the Hai Duong City People's Committee being submitted to the Provincial People's Committee for approval, this land is planned as commercial service land but the investment industry structure has not been clearly defined. The establishment of a detailed construction plan at a scale of 1/500 for the land has not been implemented due to disagreement in views; at the same time, because the investment industry structure in the land has not been determined, there is no basis for establishing a detailed construction plan.

The plan to auction the reclaimed land of the Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank, Hai Duong branch has not been approved. The relevant departments are still confused about whether or not to establish a detailed construction plan at a scale of 1/500 for the land. The total investment for the project has not been determined. Therefore, the Department of Finance has no basis to advise on determining the starting price as the basis for auctioning the land use rights for this land.

PV