|
CEBU CITY—The
Cebu City government will step up negotiations with the
SM and Ayala Land groups for their separate wholesale
proposals for the 240-hectare reclaimed South Road
Properties (SRP).
Cebu
City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he hoped the city’s recent
acceptance of the proposal of Filinvest Land Inc. to
develop the property would put pressure on the two
giants to seal a deal with the city.
“When
development starts in the area, the [value] of all the
property around it would definitely increase,” Mayor
Osmeña said.
He also
said the city has an option to defer negotiations with
SM and Ayala and “concentrate” on working with Filinvest
first on its proposal.
“We
accepted the Filinvest proposal because it was simply
the best among the three,” Osmeña said.
The city
government is negotiating with the three giants, who
agreed among themselves to divide some 150 hectares of
the SRP into three separate but complementary projects.
Filinvest is proposing to buy 14 hectares of prime
seafront property of SRP at P15,000 per square meter. It
also proposed to enter into a joint venture with the
city for 35 hectares to build residential and leisure
projects.
SM Land
Inc. is proposing the construction of a
retail/convention facility while Ayala Land proposes to
build an information-technology hub.
The
three projects will sit side by side each other. The
remaining 90 hectares of the SRP will be set aside for
manufacturing facilities.
The
Filinvest proposal was submitted for clearance by the
Commission on Audit before it is opened to the public
for a price challenge. |
