Robinsons also eyes airport lot property

CEBU, Philippines - Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) has expressed interest in the 700-hectare property currently occupied by the Mactan Cebu International Airport, joining three other industry bigwigs SM Prime Holdings Corp., Ayala Land Inc. and Filinvest Land Inc.

“We are definitely very interested in the Mactan property. We’re interested in looking at that opportunity. We’re just waiting for the implementing rules and guidelines,” said Frederick Go, president and chief operating officer of RLC, the property arm of tycoon John Gokongwei.

The Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority general manager Nigel Paul Villarete yesterday confirmed Robinsons Land’s interest in buying the airport lot. 

Aside from SM Prime Holdings and Robinsons Land, Villarete said Ayala Land and Filinvest informed him through emails of their intention to buy the airport property.

Villarete told reporters that he received a letter from Mabel Aragon Gubio, vice president for business development of Robinsons Land, informing them of Robinsons’ interest to buy the MCIA property.

He refused to read the details of the letter, but promised to divulge it in public once they received the original letter on Friday.

Villarete said the letter will be referred to the Committee on Strategic and Development of the MCIAA for further study.

He added that the offers to develop the airport property are a good development.

Go said the company aims to further beef up its presence in Cebu, which is enjoying a construction boom with the expansion of new players in sectors such as business process outsourcing, tourism-related facilities and services, universities and road infrastructure.

The continued growth of the construction industry was also due to the strong demand for residential units, particularly in the urban centers. There are an estimated 30 medium and high-rise buildings to rise in Cebu City by 2015.

“We have a lot of investments in Cebu. We would like to explore additional opportunities there,” Go said.

The MCIAA wants to develop a state-of-the-art and world-class airport to accommodate growing tourists in Cebu.

Villarete earlier said there were 33,119 incoming and outgoing domestic flight passengers and 6,957 incoming and outgoing international flight passengers from January to September this year.

One of options being considered by MCIAA is the possible privatization or sale of the airport’s current location to fund the construction of a new airport.

MCIAA is also said to be considering transferring the airport to Cordova to ease the traffic problem in Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City as the local government can build a wide road parallel to the runway.

Among RLC’s projects in Cebu include Amisa under its high-end Luxuria brand, residential subdivisions Blue Coast Residences and Aspen Heights, Azalea Place, Robinsons Cybergate Cebu, Robinsons Place and Summit Circle. — (FREEMAN)