White Building plans laid out by ministry

Fri, 28 October 2016
Phak Seangly, Jack Davies and Bun Sengkong

Minister of Land Management Chea Sophara told representatives of residents of Phnom Penh’s White Building yesterday that the iconic structure is to be torn down and replaced with a 21-storey multipurpose tower.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/w ... t-ministry

City Unveils $80M Plan For White Building Site

BY KHUON NARIM | OCTOBER 28, 2016 | អានជាភាសាខ្មែរ

After more than two years of uncertainty over the future of Phnom Penh’s iconic White Building, plans were unveiled on Thursday for a massive Japanese-backed development project on the site that will cost up to $80 million.

https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/city ... te-119852/

This is an optimistic news item and we can all hope the Japanese company will keep their word.

Wait and see.

White Building Residents Want Buyout, Not New Homes

by Ouch Sony and Janelle Retka | October 31, 2016

For the first time since their building was condemned more than two years ago, residents of Phnom Penh’s iconic White Building met with village representatives on Sunday to hear details of the development project that will result in its demolition.\

full-story....https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/whit ... es-119935/

White Building dwellers told to vote CPP for speedy eviction deal
Fri, 7 April 2017
A day before Land Management Minister Chea Sophara was scheduled to meet residents of Phnom Penh’s iconic White Building, the locale’s village chiefs promised to find a quick solution to the residents’ impending eviction – if the ruling Cambodian People’s Party fared well in the upcoming commune elections, that is.

At a meeting with residents of the building yesterday, chiefs Hun Sarath and Ngem Sovan, who represent the building’s two villages, said the process of finding a solution for residents of the White Building – which is slated for demolition – was complicated, but noted that re-election of CPP representatives in the June ballot would help quicken that process.
In an interview, Sovan confirmed asking the villagers to support the ruling party, and maintained that there was nothing unusual about it.

The White Building is slated for a three-year redevelopment by Japanese firm Arakawa Co Ltd costing an estimated $70 million, with current residents given two options: live elsewhere during the redevelopment and return to new apartments, or sell out and leave their homes.
Initial plans for the structure include 21 storeys, five of which will be used to house existing White Building residents. Three will be used for parking, one for commercial purposes and the rest will be set aside for Arakawa to sell privately.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/w ... ction-deal

White Building deal reached
Friday, 12 May 2017
Residents of the iconic White Building in Phnom Penh have agreed to a deal of $1,400 per square metre as compensation to give up their properties.
Land Management Minister Chea Sophara announced the deal to the media after a more than three-hour meeting between residents, ministry representatives and Japanese investors Arakawa at the ministry on Friday.

While a few of the 493 families living in the building have not yet agreed to the deal, Mr. Sophara said: “Most of them agreed.”
He said he hoped the remaining families would now decide to agree to the offer.
He added that demolition of the famous building will start on June 6 and finish on July 6 and the company will provide an extra $100 fee to help residents move their belongings out...
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/38302/ ... l-reached/

Sounds like a very good deal.

The White Building yesterday.
Photo by Hong Menea/PPP
More residents accept White Building offer
Tue, 16 May 2017
More than half of the families living in the soon-to-be-razed White Building have now agreed to compensation offers from the Ministry of Land Management, after 71 more families accepted the offer of $1,400 per square metre yesterday. In all, 493 families live in the building, which was designed in 1963 as a low-cost housing project.

Hue Chenda, deputy director at the ministry’s Housing Department, said in all 262 families have agreed to compensation, adding that such processes tend to see an initial surge of willing signatories but then often slow down.

Nhem Sovan, a village chief of the building, said he expected 90 percent of residents under his jurisdiction to sign up for the offer, but expected those on the ground floor, with smaller plots, to hold out given the small payout they would receive...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/m ... ding-offer

6 June 2017. Residents of the White Building are on their way out...



Kohsantepheapdaily.

The demolition crews will be in action even before the last cat and dog leaves, in case more squatters move in or a NGO says they were poorly treated.