New SRP lot buyer offers higher price

CEBU, Philippines — A Manila-based developer is willing to buy a three-hectare lot at the South Road Properties at triple the price the administration of former mayor Michael Rama sold similar lots to three big firms three years ago.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced yesterday that Federal Land Inc., through its president Pascual Garcia, has submitted an unsolicited offer to buy the three hectares at P115,000 per square meter (1 hectare = 10,000 square meters).

This means the city would fetch a total of P3.4 billion if the sale is consummated.

“We’ll draft the proposal. We’ll work out to accept the proposal, and fine-tune if there’s misunderstanding. To me, from what it is here, it is ideal. It’s really what I envisioned all along,” the mayor told reporters.

In his letter dated April 23, Garcia said Federal Land will make a down payment equal to 20 percent of the purchase price upon signing of the contract to sell, and then make the second payment, which is 30 percent of the whole amount, a year after the signing.

The remaining balance will then be settled two years after signing.    Federal Land will use the lot to develop at least nine residential towers surrounded by a variety of street-level shops and restaurants.

Four buildings with 36 floors each and five buildings with 26 floors each are expected to rise on the property.

“We envision this project to be our humble contribution to the development and progress of Cebu City,” read a portion of Garcia’s letter.

In March, Federal Land expressed its intention buy the property at P80,000 per square meter but the mayor turned down the offer.

To recall, the City Council authorized Osmeña last year to dispose of the three hectares of land at SRP through public bidding for a price of at least P110,000 per square meter or an expected revenue of P3.3 billion.

The land is described as Lot 1-F-8, Psd-07-075186 with an area of 29,881 square meters. It is located in the SRP’s Pond F area, near the property of Filinvest Land Inc. or the open space going to the office of the Department of Public Works and Highway-7 office. Osmeña believes other investors are ready to challenge Federal Land’s proposal, thereby increasing the valuation of city’s SRP.

For the mayor, the recent offer proves that the SRP lots could be sold at a price higher than what the Rama administration struck with three buyers in 2015.

That year, the city government sold 45.2 hectares of SRP lot at P38,000 per square meter or a total price of P16.7 billion. Osmeña, however, claimed the lots could have been sold at about P50 billion.  The sale to three buyers is now a subject of court litigation, as the city government refused to accept payments from them.

Osmeña earlier contended there was “no sale” because the move did not allegedly have council authority.

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It can also be recalled that at one point in his simmering word war with the mayor, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino threatened last year to resign from his office if Osmeña could sell the lots at P110,000 square meters within three months.

Yesterday, the mayor got back at Dino.

“He’s not going to resign. He’s a liar. I don’t care. The important thing, akong gipakita sa mga tawo that if you applied this price of P115,000 to the 45 hectares that they bought from the city, you know how much that would come up to? Over P50 billion,” Osmeña said.

Dino, who was with President Duterte’s special assistant Bong Go in the fire-stricken Barangay Ermita yesterday, welcomed the development but declined to elaborate because he did not have the details.

“Very good, very good kay taas ang presyo,” he said.

In a separate interview, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella also labeled Federal Land’s proposal as “a good offer.”

“We passed an ordinance. The minimum price is at P110,000 per square meter. If it realizes, it’s a good offer,” he said.

Labella, however, also begged off from commenting further as he has not perused the proposal yet.  Osmeña said the executive department will study and review the proposal of Federal Land before it will be published for a Swiss Challenge.

“With this (proposal), together with the (P18 billion) Kawit Island project, Cebu City will now be the premier city,” he said, adding more investors are interested to pour their money in the city but that he needs the City Council’s support to realize his vision. — JMD (FREEMAN)