VietNamNet Bridge – A 7,000-square-metre plot of prime land in downtown HCM City will go under the hammer, the municipal People's Committee has said.

The land, at 164 Dong Khoi Street, includes 2,000sq.m on which 145 families reside. The rest is occupied by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Department office.

The department, which has a new office in Phan Van Dat Street also in District 1, however wants the land to be recognised and preserved as a city heritage.

It had been used by the French to set up the office of the Southern Police Inspectors Department and this was where Ly Tu Trong (1914-1931), one of the first members of the Indochina Youth Communist League, was detained before being sentenced to death.

The city has ordered the department to draft a plan to move to the new place, enabling the auction of the land to raise money for cultural and sports activities.

Sixty four bidders, including some financial firms capitalised at more than US$1 billion, such as Indochina Capital, Hong Kong Land, and VinaCapital, have registered, 90 per cent of them foreign.

Authorities have ruled that since the plot of land is close to cultural and architectural landmarks like the Notre Dame Cathedral and Post Office, any building coming up on the plot here must be appropriate for its surroundings.

Almost a decade ago the department had proposed that the site should be earmarked for a cultural complex that can serve as a commercial centre and luxury hotel while offering venues for cultural activities such as music shows and films and for conventions and exhibitions.

In 2008 the city tasked the Departments of Finance and Planning and Investment with receiving applications for the auction of the land.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News