The One Central HCM complex project (formerly The Spirit of Saigon), located on an 8,600 m2 "diament" plot of land opposite Ben Thanh market, has seen many workers return to the construction site after more than 3 years of suspension. This event is considered a breakthrough signal, opening up hope to change the face of the center of Ho Chi Minh City.
Despite having a strategic location with four expensive frontages (Pham Ngu Lao - Calmette - Le Thi Hong Gam - Pho Duc Chinh streets), the project has gone through 12 years with many changes of ownership, unfinished, only the foundation and a few bare concrete floors have been completed.
The project was started by Bitexco in 2013 with a total capital of about 500 million USD and is expected to be completed in 2017. However, after completing the tunnel, the project stopped. In 2018, Bitexco transferred the investment rights to Saigon Glory Company Limited and the project was restarted in 2020, but only built a few more floors and then continued to stop.
In the 2021-2022 period, the project was renamed One Central HCM and then transferred to Viva Land - part of the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem - with the new name Pearl. The case related to the Van Thinh Phat case from the end of 2022 caused the project to fall into a "frozen" state again, the Viva Land logo was removed from the construction site.
By the end of 2024, Bitexco will transfer all capital at Saigon Glory to Phuong Dong Hanoi Real Estate Company Limited. In May 2025, Masterise Homes confirmed to become a new developer and said it will continue to implement the project.
This project is planned with two towers of 46 and 55 floors, integrating apartments, offices, a 6-star hotel and a shopping mall.
According to the reporter's records, in recent days, the construction site has had many obvious changes. Workers have appeared, the construction information board has been hung back, the floors are surrounded by a protective net and some items have begun construction.
At a press conference on the socio-economic situation of Ho Chi Minh City at the end of November 2025, Mr. Mai Thanh Tung - Deputy Head of the Infrastructure Planning Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction - confirmed that the project is under construction again.
A representative of the Department of Construction said: "After the Department of Construction issued Appendix to the Construction License No. 14 dated November 10, 2025 to adjust the Construction License, Saigon Glory Company Limited announced the project to start construction on November 11 and the project is currently under construction".
The restart of the project is considered an extremely positive signal for the central infrastructure of Ho Chi Minh City, especially in the context of the Ben Thanh area reshaping with the presence of Metro Line 1 and neighboring renovation projects.
