Vietnam and the US today [August 25] inked a deal on leasing 3.2 ha (8 acres) of land in Hanoi’s downtown for US Embassy campus for 99 years.

The land lease ceremony marks the attendance of US Vice President Kamala Harris. Photo: US Embassy in Hanoi

The building, designed to be “a symbol of cooperation, friendship, and progress for many years to come”, will cost an estimated US$1.2 billion.

Ground-breaking time has not been specified yet.

“Representing a significant milestone in the United States’ important diplomatic relationship with Vietnam, the new US Embassy campus is a modern urban landscape that also reflects the city’s culture and vitality,” according to the US Embassy in Hanoi.

The bustling boulevard where the 8-acre campus is situated transitions from the bustling city to the tranquility of the adjacent Cau Giay Park in Cau Giay District.

Inspired by Hạ Long Bay in northeast Vietnam, the building materials portray the forward-looking, reflective, and transparent approach to US diplomacy. Motivated by the agricultural traditions of farming and rice production, as seen in the landforms from the Mekong and Red River delta regions, the landscape connects the site with its own history as an active rice paddy field as recently as the early 2000s.

The land lease was initiated since the first days of the normalization of the US-Vietnam diplomatic relations in 1995. Following the normalization, the Government of Vietnam committed to providing the US a site for an Embassy campus in Hanoi and the two countries reached an agreement on the new embassy site in 2019. Earlier this year, the Hanoi People’s Committee granted approval for the US to lease the site.

Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering of Washington, D.C., the new embassy buildings will be environmentally friendly with healthy and energy-efficient interior using sustainable materials that feature high recycled content, low embodied carbon, and low volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The new Vietnamese Embassy compound in Washington, D.C., will also be relocated to a new area, leased for 99 years as well.