AT THE SRP P900 million proposal to build medical facility

CEBU - When it rains, it pours. Luckily for Cebu City this kind of rain doesn’t bring flashfloods with them.

This as another offer to buy a portion of the South Road Properties came for city.

A joint proposal from a Cebu company and a Manila-based developer worth P900 million was submitted to the city for the purchase of ten hectares to be developed into a medical facility.

Acting Mayor Michael Rama said that this is an outright sale and will soon be bid out.

Joel Mari Yu, managing director of Cebu Investment Promotions Center, the marketing arm of SRP, said that the city received a proposal from Rockwealth Venture Development Inc. of Cebu in partnership with Manila-based Pueblo de Oro Development Corporation.

Yu said that the group is planning to put up a medical tourism facility and other investments to support such facility.

Rama said that based on their initial talks the group will pay 33 percent out of the total amount upon the signing of the contract and the balance will be payable in two years.

City administrator Francisco Fernandez said that within the week, he will have the said portion of the SRP property published in the newspaper for bidding.

Rama said that the city has to make a sale of the SRP lot to pay its yearly obligation and address basic services in the city.

Pueblo de Oro Development Corporation (PODC) is owner-developer of the 360-hectare Pueblo de Oro Township. It is a member of the ICCP Group, a group of companies primarily engaged in investment banking, venture capital, industrial estate development and exposition facility complex management.

Currently, the city is evaluating an earlier proposal from Filinvest Land Inc., one of the largest real estate companies in the Philippines.

Filinvest is offering an outright purchase of ten hectares worth P2 billion and another offer of a joint venture with the city government to develop 50 hectares out of the 300-hectare SRP.

   A joint venture selection committee headed by Fernandez has been created to handle the project proposal of Filinvest.

The city government is paying P700 million this year of its loan that was taken to fund the SRP. The city will be paying such amount for the next four years and its payment will be reduced to P250 million until year 2025.

So far, the only income of SRP is P25 million which represents the lease payment of Bigfoot for 25 years. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)