Mr. Thompson: (He’s back!) Goddammit Carl, would you stop fighting this? People buy homes, let the government pay for the parks, thats why we have taxes. The Oaks at Mesa Vista is a money train. You want to be on it? (From You, Me, and Dupree)

Here’s one of many construction projects that reflects a lack of urban planning. Follow this link to view the company website. If you don’t read Vietnamese, just look at the images, most of which are artist’s renderings. Knowing the area, they do not reflect reality. It borders one section of Ecopark with villas, i.e., family homes, and another new area with shophouses.

These 32-story buildings will have 568 condominiums with two-bedroom and three-bedroom options ranging from 56.51 m2-80.72 m2 and 77.45-98.8 m2. The trend in the high-end market is smaller apartments and higher prices. The original cost was about $2,000 USD m2, which means the price range was between $113,020 USD to $197,600 USD.

As with most projects, the price always increases as demand kicks in. Real estate speculation is still rampant because of the lack of property taxes. There is not yet a disincentive to buy a property, hold onto it, and flip it. No requirements to live in the condos or homes that you buy, or to finish them, for that matter.

Taking the average of the highest and lowest prices, this project will fetch its investors at least $88.2 million USD in gross revenue. Building up pays big time.

I can only imagine what the area will be like with more lines of cars and motorbikes going to-and-fro, not to mention what happens to the wastewater from all of the toilets being flushed 24/7. Vietnam only treats 13% of its urban wastewater, according to a 2019 report published by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Shalom (שלום), MAA