The empty land plot at 148 Giang Vo Street in Ba Dinh District used to be the Hanoi National Exhibition Center.
In 2016 the city approved its conversion into a commercial-housing complex with 10 buildings of 50 stories each.
But in 2019 authorities changed their mind and said they would consult again with relevant agencies and the public.
Last month the Hanoi People’s Committee removed its housing component and decided it would be a hotel, office and commercial complex.
The Hanoi Liquor Factory used to be at 94 Lo Duc Street, Hai Ba Trung District, until it was moved out of the inner area in 2013.
The land was handed over to property developer Thien Binh, which was 99% owned by Do Anh Dung, the chairman of property developer Tan Hoang Minhcurrently under arrest for alleged fraud related to his company’s bond issuance.
The 8,000-square-meter plot at the intersection of Lo Duc, Nguyen Cong Tru and Hoa Ma streets has remained empty for 10 years.
Thien Binh had planned to build an office, hotel, school, and shopping center complex there but the project never got off the ground.
It used the plot as collateral for a bank loan worth hundreds of billions of dong (VND100 billion = $4.1 million).
On Pham Hung Street in Cau Giay District near the Keangnam Landmark building is the concrete skeleton of what was supposed to be the 31-story administrative headquarters of the state-owned Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation.
The premium office building on an 8,500-square-meter piece of land was scheduled for completion in 2014, but was constantly delayed and never finished.
Another prime property belonging to Tan Hoang Minh in Tay Ho District also remains vacant.
The 4,000-square-meter plot is at 161 Yen Phu Street with two facades and a full view of the West Lake and in close proximity to luxury hotels like the Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake and Sheraton and the old quarter.
According to the Tay Ho District People’s Committee, an amusement park was planned to be built on the plot.
Unused for years, it is overrun by weeds and some locals use it to raise chickens.
Just a short walk away at 151-153 Yen Phu Street is an unused land plot of over 4,000 sq.m belonging to the Thang Loi Hotel.
In 2019 an amusement center named Sanrio Hello Kitty World Hanoi was proposed to be built here by local conglomerate BRG Group and Sanrio Hong Kong, which owns the rights to the Hello Kitty character.
The project was canceled this June by the city Department of Planning and Investment, which said the investors are no longer allowed use of the place.
In Cau Giay district, a 13,000-square-meter plot of land at the intersection of Tran Duy Hung Street and Nguyen Chanh Street has remained unused for 10 years.
In 2007 insurance company Baoviet Life and sovereign fund State Capital Investment Corporation established a joint venture to build the International Finance Tower, a 34-story premium office and commercial building.
