CEBU City’s bids and awards committee (BAC) began assessing the financial and technical proposals of SM Prime Holdings in their bid to buy 30 hectares of the South Road Properties (SRP).

Although Mayor Tomas Osmeña already accepted in principle the proposal, City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said the committee still has to review the documents before it goes to a competitive challenge.

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The BAC met yesterday and pored over the eligibility documents submitted by SM Prime Holdings, which include the technical details of their planned project and the financial documents.

Facility

SM Prime intends to build a 25-hectare shopping mall at the SRP, a convention facility with a minimum floor area of 20,000 square meters and hotels.

They also plan to put up a school, hospital and high-rise condominiums later on.

“He accepted that in principle and has passed on the proposal to the committee on awards. So now we have to look over their documents. If we find them to be acceptable, then we will publish the invitation to bid,” Fernandez said yesterday.

A competitive challenge was preferred for SM Prime’s proposal, as it will allow the City to negotiate with the buyer on the terms and conditions of the sale and the intended use of the property.

Other interested developers can submit their proposals and challenge the offer of SM Prime, which the latter can match if it loses in the bidding.

Fernandez earlier said that if the sale is done through an open bidding, the City will not have an idea or have control over the developer’s plans on the use of the lot.

In a separate interview, Joel Yu, managing director of the Cebu Investment and Promotions Center (CIPC), said no one has expressed interest yet to challenge the proposal of SM Prime.

CIPC is the marketing arm of the SRP.

“It’s going to go through a public bidding, but through a Swiss challenge. The City will publish the invitation to bid, and invite the general public to submit a better offer. But so far, there’s no one (interested to challenge),” Yu added. (LCR)