Thu Thiem vs. Rach Chiec: Comparing 3 Megaprojects Reshaping Eastern Saigon in October 2026

October 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal month for Ho Chi Minh City’s eastern corridor. Within barely two weeks, the market has absorbed a string of announcements about multi-billion-dollar infrastructure and urban projects in Thu Thiem and Rach Chiec. The headline event is the planned groundbreaking of Lotte Eco Smart City Thu Thiem on 23 October 2026, alongside two Sun Group-led projects: the new HCMC Administrative-Political Center in Thu Thiem and the Rach Chiec National Sports Complex, which is now entering its land-handover phase. This article compares the scale, timeline and likely market impact of all three.

1. The big picture: three megaprojects, one wave of momentum

Although they serve very different functions, all three projects share one trait: enormous capital commitments that are now moving from paper to the ground in 2026. Here is a side-by-side summary of the publicly disclosed figures:

Combined, the three projects represent more than VND 234 trillion in committed capital — a figure that signals just how heavily both the city government and major private conglomerates are betting on eastern Saigon’s infrastructure.

2. Lotte Eco Smart City Thu Thiem: the groundbreaking everyone is watching

According to Bao Dau Tu, the project sits on roughly 74,513.4 sqm (about 7.45 ha) across six adjoining plots, 2-1 through 2-6, in Functional Zone 2A, An Khanh ward, right next to Thu Thiem’s central square and lake, with direct access to the city center via the Thu Thiem tunnel and Ba Son bridge. A string of legal milestones has already been cleared: on 26 June 2026 Lotte and Phat Dat signed their investment cooperation contract; on 3 July 2026 Phat Dat formally took a 35% stake in Lotte Properties HCMC; on 31 July 2026 the company completed VND 17,569 billion in land-use fee obligations; and on 10 September 2026 the project received its fourth amended investment registration certificate.

Per Tuoi Tre, total investment is estimated at VND 60 trillion. Phat Dat will independently develop the two commercial-service towers on plots 2-1 and 2-3 plus the retail podium, while co-developing the residential components on plots 2-2, 2-4 and 2-6. MBBank has committed to fully finance Phat Dat’s required capital contribution. Per Nguoi Quan Sat, blocks 2-1 and 2-3 are expected to take 36 months to complete, targeting October 2029. The project moved from signed partnership to an actual groundbreaking date in under four months — a notably fast pace for a megaproject of this size in Thu Thiem.

3. Sun Group’s two moves: the administrative center and the sports complex

While Lotte Eco Smart City represents the residential-commercial wave, Sun Group’s two projects belong to a different category: city-scale public infrastructure. According to CafeF, the Central Square and HCMC Administrative-Political Center broke ground on 29 April 2026, with nearly VND 29.6 trillion in investment across about 47 ha under a PPP structure. The complex includes a roughly 30-storey administrative tower serving more than 8,000 civil servants, a theater and conference center seating around 2,000, and a central park with a roughly 12 ha lake, with international design input from firms such as SOM, EDSA and Morphis.

Separately, per Mekong ASEAN, the Rach Chiec National Sports Complex spans about 186.78 ha with roughly VND 145 trillion in total investment, developed by Sun Vung Tau (a Sun Group member) under a BT contract that broke ground on 15 January 2026. Its centerpiece is a 24 ha central stadium costing about VND 35 trillion with a 70,000-seat capacity and a retractable roof, plus an 18,000-seat multipurpose arena, an international-standard aquatics center and a tennis center. Per Znews, land measurement and inventory for 907 households in Binh Trung ward had reached nearly 99.9% complete, with land clearance and handover targeted for completion this October — the very month this article is being written. The city and the investor are also pushing to compress the overall BT timeline from 8 years down to roughly 5.

4. Impact on nearby luxury apartment projects: who benefits?

JLL Vietnam data cited by VietnamFinance suggests primary apartment prices in Thu Thiem could climb toward about VND 215 million per sqm, with landed houses reaching roughly VND 567 million per sqm of land, largely because primary supply has nearly dried up while large projects restart in parallel. Against that backdrop, established condominium projects near the Lotte Eco Smart City site, such as Empire City and The Metropole Thu Thiem, are widely seen as direct beneficiaries given their proximity to the central square and the new administrative hub. Further south, near the Rach Chiec construction site, projects such as Palm City are also expected to gain value as a national-scale sports and entertainment hub takes shape and draws in population and services.

That said, it is worth staying grounded: all three megaprojects are still at an early execution stage — groundbreaking or land handover — with realistic completion timelines stretching 3 to 8 years depending on the project. Much of the expected price appreciation reflects market sentiment and tightening supply rather than value that has already materialized, so buyers should weigh holding periods and cash-flow timing carefully before committing.

HCMC Luxury Real Estate Weekly (Oct 13-17, 2026): Core Apartment Prices Keep Rising, Thu Thiem Overtakes Phu My Hung

Weekly HCMC luxury real estate update: apartment prices keep rising, Thu Thiem overtakes Phu My Hung, infrastructure accelerates. Contact Thanh…

Xem chi tiết →

5. Investment takeaway: which area deserves priority?

For medium- to long-term investors, Thu Thiem remains the area with the highest concentration of infrastructure and institutional presence, making it well suited to premium apartments and officetels that should stay liquid once legal procedures are finalized. Rach Chiec, with its larger land bank and a national-scale sports and entertainment anchor, fits a longer 5-to-10-year horizon, particularly for landed and low-rise products. Investors should track concrete legal milestones — construction permits, land-use right certificates — rather than groundbreaking headlines alone, since those are what ultimately determine an asset’s resale value.

If you are evaluating opportunities in Thu Thiem, District 1 or Rach Chiec and want details on legal status, construction progress or the latest pricing, feel free to reach out directly for a site visit and a tailored comparison of investment options.

References:

• Bao Dau Tu – Lotte Eco Smart City Thu Thiem prepares to break ground
• Tuoi Tre – Phat Dat partners with Lotte; MBBank to finance its full stake
• Nguoi Quan Sat – Phat Dat to break ground on 2 blocks at Lotte Eco Smart City
• CafeF – Sun Group pours nearly VND 30 trillion into the Thu Thiem core
• Mekong ASEAN – Sun Group named investor of the VND 145 trillion sports complex
• Znews – Latest developments at Sun Group’s VND 145 trillion megaproject
• VietnamFinance – Thu Thiem property prices climb: apartments at VND 215 million/sqm