Vietnam to build first underground parking lot

The 5.9 ha Le Van Tam Park would be a three-floor parking space built on 2.9ha. The first floor will have room for 38 buses, 69 minibuses and light trucks.
The 2,240sq.m entresol between the 1st and the 2nd floor will be able to accommodate 750 motorbikes and supporting facilities, and the second floor will hold 700 motorbikes and 263 cars. The third floor would accommodate 880 cars.

When construction of the first stage is completed, the project could provide 9.56ha of parking space for 1,255 cars and buses and 1.45 million motorbikes.

The development of the project is a joint venture between Hyder-CDC and the Vietnamese & S Joint-Stock Investment Company. Investment for the project amounts to VND657 billion (US$41 million). Construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of this year and be completed in 2006.

The project is expected to have little impact on the environment and not affect the trees and facilities in Le Van Tam Park. Le Van Tam Park is managed by HCM City Park and Greenery Management Company.

According to figures released by the Traffic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security, 800,000 cars have been registered for circulation in the country, 40 per cent of them registered in HCM City and Ha Noi.

HCM City, which has some 300,000 cars and 2.4 million motorbikes, needs 250ha of parking space. But the city now has only 10 parking lots with a total area of less than 8ha.
"The underground car park is one of the priority projects in HCM City that will help address the traffic problems in the city," according to a report from the Bank-Security Company.
The car park project is located in a prime location. The developers of the underground car park project said, as of April 20, they had received capital contributions from 12 holders.