Shop owners at Saigon Tax Trade Center are offering up to 50% discounts to clear their stocks before the building will be demolished by the end of September to make way for the construction of a 40-storey skyscraper.
Saigon Tax Trade Center is a 134-year old, five-storey building built in 1880. It was originally named Les Grands Magazins Charner designed with French colonial architecture. It has a 15,000 square meter area located at District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. It used to sell luxury items imported from Britain, France and other Western countries and which only the wealthy and privileged people in Saigon and Southern Vietnam can afford. In the 1950s, the world-class designer name Hermes introduced its brand to the country in the high-end shopping complex. Today, the center sells handicrafts, clothing, jewelry and electronic devices and has been a favorite destination for foreign tourists visiting the area.
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Shop owners were supposed to be informed six months before the demolition to give them ample time to move out. But the announcement came late from the higher authorities, thus, informing the tenants just this August 12. To make up for the limited time, the management board waived its tenants’ two months rent. They are given the option to move to other shopping centers owned by the same company Satra located at C6 Pham Hung Street in District 8 or Saigon Supermarket in District 10. Current shop owners will also be given priority for a space in the proposed skyscraper. Moreover, they are allowed to sell their remaining stocks at 50% off at the center lobby on the ground floor of the trading center from September 1-30. Regular days only require them to stay inside their shops.
Photo by http://www.thanhniennews.com/
As ordered by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, the old structure will be replaced by a new building, a multi-million dollar 40-storey skyscraper that will be called Tax Plaza. It will feature a shopping center, supermarket, convention center, conference rooms, exhibition, hotel, underground parking area and offices for lease. The parking facility alone can accommodate 2,100 cars and motorcycles. It will also have a basement which will be converted into an underground metro line station.
The basement is four-storeys high and 15,000 square meters big. 500 square meters of it will be utilized for the metro line station which has a span of 19.7 kilometers connecting through District 1, Binh Thanh District, District 2, District 9, Thu Duc District in Ho Chi Minh City and Di An Town in Binh Duong Province. It will be under the management of the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board which will construct the ventilation structures of the metro station. It will be just one of 14 stations owned by the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line and has an estimated cost of U.S.$2.49 billion.
Construction of the new building will begin at the end of this year. The metro line station is expected to begin operation in 2018.