I have been busy working with a real estate development company this past year (not my own -- that didn't work out), so I got off the blog track for awhile. But I am back in Saigon after a long holiday trip back home in the USA, and I have noticed many changes in just the two-and-a-half months I was away. The biggest is in my backyard.
I could see this coming -- my blog posting a couple of years ago about parking in the neighborhood featured this site in back of my house as a future prime development site.
Ten months ago, several borings were drilled in preparation for a soils report to be done on the property -- the soils or geotechnical report is to inform the project designers about the subsurface ground conditions so foundations can be designed.
I guessed then that it would be about a year when demoltion would begin. It began in early January and is now completed. This has exposed a fairly large development site for HCMC at about 3,600 square meters (38,750 sq. ft or .9 acre) in area. The main street is Phan Đăng Lưu, a major feeder street to the airport from northern areas of Ho Chi Minh City. This posting from over two years ago shows the drainage tunnel constructed under the much smaller version of this street 36 years ago.
This is what the site looks like now:
Except the tree isn't there anymore and the fences have been completed around the property.
It is likely that the site will sit quiet for about six months to a year while the developer tries to get construction permits.
The project sign on the street shows a 19-story housing tower of undistinguished generic design.
When the excavation for foundations and below-grade levels begin, our bedroom window will catch all the noise and dust. We have lived here for over three years now -- it is probably time for a change, as much as I love construction. Here is a photo showing the backside of our rented house:
