Apartments that go beyond a place to live
By Dinh Dung in HCMC
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| The imposing Manor Officetel is one of the officetel projects as a promising segment in HCMC - Photo: Dinh Dung |
Apartments sometimes go beyond their traditional function as a place for accommodation when some condo projects are designed with multi-purpose apartments. Those facilities are tailored to meet the demand of homebuyers who would like to use their properties as a place to live and a place to work at the same time.
Real demand in the market tells some project developers to invest into the segment called officetel, which represents a type of apartment that can be 
used as both a house and an office. In fact, officetels have been developed in other countries for many years, but it is rather new in Vietnam. Since an officetel is designed to target small businesses, which make up the majority of businesses in the country, most developers believe their products will receive good feedback in the market.
Among the officetel projects to be launched in the coming time, the Manor Officetel project, which is nearly completed, are a typical example. Binh Minh Import-Export Co., better known as Bitexco, is developing the complex project on Nguyen Huu Canh Street in HCMC’s District 1 with 30-story apartment blocks offering some 600 apartments and offices.
Unlike normal apartments, those facilities are designed with bedrooms for singles or young couples and a spacious work place for several people, including services for business.
In another project, Ben Thanh Land has launched its Saigon Luxury Apartment located on the corner of Ky Con, Dang Thi Nhu and Le Thi Hong Gam streets in downtown HCMC. The 22-story condo project is designed as an officetel, providing 88 luxury apartments from 60 to 280 square meters each and other services.
Like several other developers, Vu Anh Tam, general director of Tai Nguyen Construction, Manufacture and Trading Company, decided to save three blocks of buildings in the Kenton Residences project for officetel development.
The complex project is under construction on a nine-hectare site on Nguyen Huu Tho Street near the new urban town of Phu My Hung in HCMC’s District 7, some five kilometers from the city’s center. When in place in 2012, Kenton Residences will provide the market with some 1,640 luxury apartments from 61 to 345 square meters each.
Among the three sections of the project, Plaza Section will have an officetel segment with 270 apartments which are designed with a mezzanine for accommodation and a downstairs area for working. There are public areas such as a meeting room and business center to serve business demand.
Tam told the Daily that demand in the market was potentially strong with such apartments suitable for small companies to reduce costs.
Although seen as a narrow segment, officetels will compete with the formal office sector which saw the biggest impacts in the property market last year. Many developers in the office sector slowed projects and corporate tenants were reluctant to take space. Decreasing revenue for major firms has led to cost cutting, most obviously in staff costs and unnecessary capital expenditure.
It is projected that a large amount of office space will be released to the market this year which is expected to be a highly competitive year for agents and landlords alike.
The Saigon Times Daily