A three-party joint venture broke ground Friday on a US$1.2 billion observation tower complex project in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in Ho Chi Minh City.

The 14.56-hectare Empire City consists of a deluxe shopping mall, a five-star hotel, an office building and a modern condominium, besides an 86-story multifunctional tower, which is likely to be the highest building in Vietnam once completed.

The project is implemented in four phases, with the first one, running between 2016 and 2018, intended to complete around 130,000 square meters of construction floor area, according to the developer, Empire City Limited Liability Co.

Empire City Limited Liability Co. is a joint venture between Tien Phuoc Co. Ltd., real estate company Tran Thai, and UK-based Denver Power Ltd.

Tien Phuoc and Tran Thai collectively hold a 50 percent stake as the representative of Vietnam in the joint venture with the foreign partner.

The Thu Thiem New Urban Area is located along the Saigon River in District 2, which lies to the east of the city, and is connected to District 1, District 7, District 9, and Binh Thanh District.

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