ALI eyes 18-ha lot in Las Piñas

Prime real estate developer Ayala Land Inc. is reportedly eyeing an 18-hectare lot in Las Piñas owned by the government.

Real estate sources said Ayala Land, Robinsons Land and other big property developers are keenly awaiting government’s decision on whether or not to sell the 18-hectare property which has an attractive 300-meter frontage.

At an estimated P20,000 per square meter, the property which was home for Goodyear Philippines for 25 years, can fetch as much as P3.6 billion.

Real estate insiders said Goodyear’s 25-year lease with the National Development Co. (NDC) has expired and Goodyear Philippines has to renegotiate a new lease agreement with the government or buy the land outright.

Based on current rates, a 25-year lease will generate less than P1 billion for the government. On the other hand, an outright sale of the property can raise as much as P3.6 billion, real estate experts said.

The Goodyear property is a 60-40 joint venture between NDC and Goodyear, with NDC owning 60 percent and Goodyear 40 percent.

Good year actually owned the property in the past. However, because of the Laurel-Langley Law, the property had to be nationalized and the Philippine government entered into a 60-40 jont venture with Goodyear to develop the property.

The Goodyear property already has its own mini-power plant and is ideally located behind Ayala Alabang and the SM mall. It is considered as an ideal spot for a mixed commercial and residential development.

Sources said an outright sale of the property appears to be more attractive as government needs the revenue right now to proceed with several planned infrastructure projects that would help further economic development.

The NDC is supposed to fund the Philippine Infrastructure Corp. (PIC) which has several big infrastructure projects on the drawing board.