Life’s a beach for An Vien Group

But a closer look shows An Vien is actually adopting a new business approach. The group is building the country’s first luxury waterfront community on a 71-hectare property facing Nha Trang, one of the 29 most beautiful bays in the world.
When completed in the next two years, the community will feature French-style villas, condominiums, garden houses, shops and the country’s first luxury private yacht club.
“Phu Quy will be developed like the French Riviera and Australian Gold Coast,” said Pham Nhat Vu, an An Vien representative.
Phu Quy means richness and honour, and as its name indicates, the development is exclusively for the affluent. However, Phu Quy is not only for foreigners but also for Vietnamese like Nguyen Huu Phuc, who wants a luxury life at the waterfront.
Phuc, who bought a 273-square metre piece of land to build a villa for a weekend holiday, says Phu Quy has good feng shui and an infrastructure suitable for a luxury living.
“We want to enjoy a seaside atmosphere,” said Phuc. He is also building his villa to lease to tourists.
Such an approach is now becoming more popular in Vietnam. As urban residents get rich due to the country’s 7.5 per cent economic growth over the past five years, they are heading to beaches or going overseas for a weekend holiday.
New resorts are being built to meet the demand. Son Tra Resort & Spa is selling more than 200 villas and bungalows in Danang to locals, who can use the property for a weekend residence or to contribute to the hotel’s rental pool.
Foreign investors will be able to lease land in Phu Quy to build hotels and resorts without having to go through the time and effort-consuming site clearance and infrastructure construction process
“We have spent $20 million building infrastructure to international standards,” Vu said. “All investors have to do is come and construct their dream villas or hotels.”
Vu said Nha Trang has the ideal climate to house a seaside development.
The area around Phu Quy is warm and balmy year round without suffering storms and cold winter, which northern beaches experience.
It has a large airport with easy links to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with the possibility of more international points in the future.
Vu claims developments such as Phu Quy are ready to welcome an increasing number of foreign tourists as the result of Vietnam’s expected admission to the World Trade Organization.
Vietnam received 3.47 million foreign tourists last year and the figure is expected to more than double in the next five years, turning the country into one of Asia’s hottest tourist spots.
Paul Mason, managing director of e-Homes realty company, says Phu Quy will help investors make the most of their investment strategy.
Mason, who has 12 years’ experience with the local real estate market, says investors who look for growing investment returns in Vietnam’s property market should find an area ready to explode in terms of land value and a project high in demand in that area.
“Phu Quy offers investors a superb opportunity to make the most of this strategy,” he says.
As it is now possible to secure land at Phu Quy at pre-boom prices, he adds, investors will have their capital growth as both the property and Nha Trang mature.
Nha Trang may not be in the same league as Phuket and Bali but new resorts could well make this seaside town a strong rival to more mature resort regions elsewhere in Asia.
The local government is also hoping more resorts would form a compounded synergy to brand Nha Trang as a premier resort destination in Southeast Asia.
Bangkok-based hotel company Six-senses, the operator of Ana Mandara Resort, opened a luxury resort near Nha Trang late last year. The Evason Hideaway at Ninh Van Bay has 54 pool villas, the first of its kind in Vietnam, and sells for $550 per room a night.
Nha Trang’s property list looks set to expand further with construction beginning recently on a cable car network connecting Phu Quy with Hon Tre island, where Accor Group is managing the 500-room Sofitel VinPearl Resort & Spa.
The highwire will not only provide a new tourist product but will also make way for more developments on Hon Tre island.
Plans are also in the pipeline to build a large food court, a golf course, a luxury villa complex and another resort on the island.
“Hon Tre will become a high-class tourist complex catering to diversified demand for relaxation and entertainment,” said Nguyen Trong Hoa, vice chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee.
In time Phu Quy residents can ride the cable cars to play a round of golf or enjoy a sumptuous dinner on Hon Tre.




No. 745-746/January 23-February 5, 2006