Leading hospitality chain sues Da Nang authorities over demolition order

City authorities have stuck by their decision.

Local reports say that the Dien Bien Private Construction Company No. 1, investor of the Muong Thanh chain, has filed a case with the Da Nang People’s Court over the municipal administration's decision to fine the investor and order the demolition of parts of Muong Thanh Grand Da Nang, a 4-star property, on the Son Tra Peninsula.

There was no information available at the time of going to print on the substance of the lawsuit and the investor's disagreement with the city's decision.

Da Nang Chairman Huynh Duc Tho said that the filing of the case will not affect the city's decisions.

Authorities of the central city discovered last year that the investor of Muong Thanh Grand Da Nang had illegally changed the approved design of the complex to fit in more apartments.

They found that the investor had transformed a parking lot, a kindergarten and a community area from the second to fifth floor into 104 apartments.

It replaced an emergency exit on the 35th floor with eight apartments, and illegally built two more floors for technical equipment instead of putting them on the 41st and 42nd floor, where it built 49 apartments.

It also merged five apartments on the 25th floor into one.

Da Nang authorities plan to enforce the demolition of the illegally built portions on February 24, 2020 as the investor has failed to do so on its own.

Muong Thanh is a major hospitality chain operating almost 60 hotels across the country with a capacity of over 10,000 rooms.