Singapore’s Vita Holdings plans to build a US$41.5 million hotel in Hanoi in what the company said Friday would be its first large property project

Singapore’s Vita Holdings plans to build a US$41.5 million hotel in Hanoi in what the company said Friday would be its first large property project outside the island.

Construction of the 350-room property is expected to begin in early-2008 and be completed before 2010.

It will have a 65 percent stake in it while its Vietnamese partner, Dai Viet Trading Co, the rest.

Vita will bring in $17 million for the five-star project, and Dai Viet will contribute the land component.

Vita chief executive Loo Woei Harng told Singapore's Business Times that his company had been trying to divest its shipping assets and move into property.

“Shipping is a volatile business,” he said. “We think that in the long-term property is a more stable business.”

The company is converting a former primary school into a high-end boutique hotel in Singapore besides seeking more opportunities in Southeast Asia.